Amblyopia

Amblyopia is poor vision in an eye that did not develop normal sight during early childhood. It is sometimes called "lazy eye." When one eye develops good vision while the other does not, the eye with the poorer vision is called amblyopic. Usually, only one eye is affected by amblyopia. Amblyopia can be corrected only if treated during infancy or early childhood. Parents must be alert to this visual threat if their child is to see properly later in life.

Causes and Symptoms

Amblyopia is caused by any condition that affects normal use of the eyes and visual development. Amblyopia has three major causes: strabismus (misaligned eyes), unequal focus (refractive error), and cloudiness in the normally clear eye tissues.

Treatment

 

To correct amblyopia, the child must be forced to use the lazy eye. This is usually done by patching or covering the good eye, often for weeks or months. Part-time patching may be required over a period of years to maintain improvement even after vision has been restored. If amblyopia is not treated, several things may occur. The amblyopic eye may develop a serious and irreversible visual defect, depth perception may be lost, or if the good eye becomes diseased or injured, a lifetime of poor and uncorrectable vision may be the result.