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January 13, 2014: What is Amblyopia?

Amblyopia, also known as “lazy eye,” is the lack of normal visual development in an eye, despite the eye being healthy. If left untreated, it can cause legal blindness in the affected eye. About 2% to 3% of the population is amblyopic. Preventing amblyopia is the single most important reason for your child or grandchild to have an eye examination. Your eye doctor recommends that all children have an eye examination before entering school if not before.

Amblyopia signs and symptoms
Amblyopia generally starts at birth or during early childhood. Its symptoms often are noted by parents, caregivers or health-care professionals. If a child squints or completely closes one eye to see or tilts their head consistently in any direction, he or she may have amblyopia. Other signs include overall poor visual acuity, eyestrain and headaches.

What causes amblyopia?
The most common cause of amblyopia is strabismus (crossed eyes or one eye turning out) Another common cause is a significant difference in the refractive errors (nearsightedness, farsightedness and/or astigmatism) in the two eyes. It's important to correct amblyopia as early as possible, before the brain learns to ignore the vision in the affected eye.

Treatment of amblyopia





Amblyopia will not go away on its own, and untreated amblyopia can lead to permanent visual problems and poor depth perception. If your child has amblyopia and the stronger eye develops disease or is injured later in life, the result will be poor vision through the amblyopic eye. To prevent this and to give your child the best vision possible, amblyopia should be treated early on. If amblyopia is detected and aggressively treated before the age of 6 or 7, in many cases the weak eye will be able to develop 20/20 vision.