Amblyopia, which is seen in about 3% of people, occurs when the eyes do not have normal vision during childhood. This disorder is commonly seen in one eye, due to various factors such as refractive errors (hyperopia, myopia, or astigmatism), the divergence of the eye (strabismus), or lack of transparency of the visual pathway (due to factors such as cataracts, corneal opacities, or drooping eyelid (ptosis). The lack of clarity of the image in the unhealthy eye and the better image in the healthy eye make the brain favor one eye and between the two eyes choose the healthy eye, which leads to block the path of sending the image from the unhealthy eye to the brain or make the unhealthy eye's eyesight "Off".
Amblyopia Symptoms
Lazy eye usually occurs before 6 years of age and is often diagnosed by parents, teachers, or physicians. In an age where the children are able to express their own problems, they may complain of visual impairment, eye fatigue, or headache. But in most cases, the child has no complaints, and the causes symptoms of this eye disorder like strabismus or opacities of visual pathways such as cataract and corneal opacity may be diagnosed. However, when lazy eye is caused by refractive errors, it is difficult to diagnose it, because children are easily seen by their another healthy eyes ,which compensates for the lack of vision in their unhealthy eyes. For this reason, parents and teachers should pay special attention to children's attitudes.
Amblyopia Treatment
Fortunately, ambolyopia is easily treated when diagnosed at the right time. The treatment for ambolyopia is usually done by closing the healthy eye and making the brain to see with the lazy eye. This treatment may last for weeks or even months, but the healthy eye should be opened periodically. In cases where ambolyopia is due to refractive errors, the use of glasses or lenses will result in defective image resolution in the lazy eye and treatment of ambolyopia. And when ambolyopia is due to strabismus, it can be treated with strabismus surgical procedures. The point to be noted is that the development of the visual system occurs between the ages of 8 and 10 and the treatment of ambolyopia after these ages is very unlikely. So, if the lazy eye is not treated at a younger age, after 10 years of age, in most cases it will not have any treatment and may result in severe vision loss in one eye.
To prevent ambolyopia, the child's eyes should be examined by an ophthalmologist after childbirth at the maternity clinic at the age of 3-4 months and at the age of 2-3 years. Fortunately, a plan has recently been launched in Iran to prevent ambolyopia, in which the eyes of all kindergarten children are examined freely. Therefore, it is recommended that participate in this project to take care of your child's visual health if your child's eyes are not carefully examined by an ophthalmologist and your child is at a childhood age .