Amblyopia: why eyes get lazy and how to help them

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The disease often has no symptoms. But if you do not notice it in time, the child will lose his sight.

What is amblyopia

Amblyopia (or lazy eye syndrome) is a condition where one eye sees much worse and the brain begins to ignore the fuzzy images from it. 2-3% of children experience the disease before the age of 7.

The eyes work like a camera. Light passes through the lens and reaches the light-sensitive retina. It converts the picture into nerve impulses and sends them to the brain. There, the signals from each organ of vision are combined into a three-dimensional image. When the child's body fails to form these connections and the eyes cannot work in pairs, amblyopia occurs.

If the "lazy eye" is not helped, it will go blind. The earlier the treatment starts, the more successful it will be. It is best to do it before the age of 7, at which time connections between the eyes and the brain are still forming. Among children from 7 to 17 years old, only half respond to therapy.

Why does amblyopia develop?

A poor-quality image from one eye can be transmitted to the brain for three reasons.

Due to the difference in sharpness

With myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism, the refractive power of the organs of vision changes, beams of light do not fall on the retina and the image becomes indistinct. If one eye sees much worse than the other, refractive amblyopia develops.

Due to strabismus

With it, the synchronous work of the eye muscles is disrupted. Because of this, one eye can freely turn towards the nose, up, down, or outward. Therefore, the signals from him are of poor quality.

Due to blockage of vision

Deprivation amblyopia occurs when something blocks the visual axis. This can be a cataract (clouding of the lens), trauma, intraocular swelling, scarring of the cornea, or overhanging eyelid.

How to understand that a child has amblyopia

Amblyopia is often asymptomatic. But there are several signs that sometimes appear in sick children:

• one eye turns inward or outward, up or down;
• eyes do not move well together;
• the child tilts his head to look at something;
• he often squints or closes one eye;
• the child does not perceive depth well.

Older preschool children themselves may complain that they see poorly with one eye. Sometimes they have problems reading, writing and drawing. It is worth telling the ophthalmologist about this.

If your child is too young, try checking it yourself before visiting the doctor. Cover his eyes with your hand in turn. Sometimes children with amblyopia try to remove their hand from what is healthy.

When to see a doctor

An ophthalmologist can detect amblyopia in the early stages, when it seems that the child is not worried about anything. Therefore, it is recommended to show children to specialists at 6 months, 3 years, and after entering school - annually. It is especially important to check the baby's eyesight if someone has a child's cataract, strabismus or other serious eye diseases in the family.

Children who cannot speak are examined with an ophthalmoscope, an illuminated magnifying instrument. This is necessary to exclude cataracts. The doctor also checks how well the child focuses his gaze and monitors moving objects.

Children from 3 years old are usually prescribed visometry. The doctor in turn closes the patient's eyes and then shows him letters or pictures. At the same time, the doctor makes sure that the child does not peep with his second eye and does not reach for the table. Eyesight is also checked using a refractometer. It determines the refractive power of the eye.

How is amblyopia treated

Differently. The ophthalmologist selects a method depending on the cause of the disease and on how poorly the eye sees.

Glasses or lenses

If amblyopia is caused by myopia, hyperopia, or astigmatism, the ophthalmologist must correct the vision. For this, he assigns glasses.

Blindfold

The bandage completely covers the healthy eye to force the brain to read the image of the affected eye. At first, the child sees poorly, but gradually the vision “turns on”. How many hours a day to wear a bandage and when to stop treatment is up to the doctor. If you do this uncontrollably, your healthy eye will begin to see worse.

The disadvantage of this method is that amblyopia returns to 25% of children after the dressing is removed.

Eye drops

If amblyopia is not started, your doctor may prescribe atropine drops instead of a bandage. They dilate the pupil, and because of this, the healthy eye ceases to see clearly, and the lazy one begins to work. A side effect of the drug is photophobia. But the researchers note that, unlike the dressing, the medication does not irritate the skin or conjunctiva.

Operation

Most often, the help of a surgeon is required if glasses do not help correct squint. Also, you cannot do without surgery if something, such as a cataract, interferes with your vision.

How successful the treatment can be

In most children, the ability of the lazy eye is fully restored if the diagnosis was made early. In some, improvements are noticeable after several weeks of treatment, in others after six months or even two years. But amblyopia may return. Therefore, you need to regularly visit an ophthalmologist. If a relapse occurs, treatment starts over.