Amblyopia Symptoms, Causes, Treatment & Surgery

Causes Of Amblyopia Among Children and Adults

Amblyopia is commonly known as lazy eye. According to the experts the brain works in co – ordination with the eye. This is how vision is produced. It is the light that enters the eye which is then changed into nerve signals. These nerve signals then travel to the brain through the optic nerve.

As a result the brain and the eye stop working together properly which in turn results in reduced vision in one of the eye. This reduction in vision in one eye is called Amblyopia in medical terms. You will not notice any physical change in the eye effected with Amblyopia. It will appear normal to you. But the fact is it is not working normally as the other eye is being favored by the brain.

Is It Common?

Yes, it is one of the most common causes of decreased vision among young children. You will find every 2 or 3 children affected with it out of 100 children. If not treated successfully during the childhood it normally persists into the adult stage. It is one of the most common causes of monocular visual disability that is found among children and young adults.

Causes of Amblyopia

It is caused by any condition in which leads to defect in the normal development of vision and functioning of the eyes. It is normally caused due to strabismus which is generally an imbalance that takes place in the positioning of the two eyes. This condition results in the eyes to turn out or cross in. Many times Amblyopia is caused in case one of the eye is astigmatic, farsighted or near sighted as compared to the other eye. It can also be caused by other eye problem like cataract.

Amblyopia treatment

The treatment of Amblyopia is more effective at an early stage among children’s life, normally before the child is 7 years old. The eye is treated by making the child to use the affected eye more. Thus the child is forced to use the eye with reduced vision more as compared to the eye that works well. There are two different ways of ensuring this during the treatment:

• Atropine: Atropine is a drug that is in liquid form. A drop of this drug is placed in the eye not affected by Amblyopia. This results in a blurred vision in the normal eye for a temporary period of time. The child is thus forced to use the eye affected with Amblyopia more then the stronger eye. This results in stimulating the vision in the affected eye of the child and also helps the brain that co – ordinates vision with eye to develop in a complete way.
• Patching: In this case an adhesive opaque patch is placed over the stronger eye for over a month to at least a week. This blocks the vision of the stronger eye and thus the child is forced to use the weaker or the affected eye. This stimulates the vision in the weaker eye and forces the brain to develop complete co-ordination with the weaker eye. For this treatment to be effective, it is important to wear the opaque patch for at least 6 hours per day.

The treatment of Amblyopia among adults is not very comprehensive yet and the experts are still trying to come up with a more complete and effective treatment. This is because as the child grows old the nerve that is attached to the brain and the eye which results in vision becomes more complicated.