So, what’s a lazy eye? In medical terminology, this is called Amblyopia. It usually occurs in childhood. When nerve pathways between the brain and eye aren’t properly stimulated, the brain tends to favour the other eye. This results in wandering eye, and reduced depth of perception in an eye. The condition of Lazy eye usually develops in infancy and early childhood. So, it is a parent’s responsibility to book an appointment with a paediatric ophthalmologist on a regular basis.

Early detection is important

There are some ways to experiment on infants if they have ‘Amblyopia’. One of them is to observe the alignment of eyeballs. If they look misaligned, it means that the eye needs treatment. The other way is to cover one of your kid’s eyes while they’re watching something. Try this for both the eyes. If they cry or get frustrated over one eye, it means that there’s a chance of misalignment. If you’re still unsure, you’re always welcome to make an appointment with one of our experts in Paediatric eye care. They are skilled to diagnose the pin-point cause and provide you with the best solution.

Even though there are advancements in the treatment of Lazy eye, experts suggest not to neglect this symptom. That is because it can lead to permanent visual disorders. Treating Amblyopia at the right age always reap fruitful results – a set of well-functioning eyes.

Sometimes, if Amblyopia is left untreated, it can lead to disorders. So, it is always best to treat this as early as possible.

Treating a Lazy eye

It is essential to realise that the earlier a lazy eye is diagnosed and treated, the better are the chances of recovering complete vision. There are two mandatory steps in correcting a lazy eye. The eye is first treated to remove any cataract or refractive errors. Then, the second approach is to block the stronger or well-functioning sight with an eye patch and to train the lazy eye such that the brain starts to recognise the inputs from the weaker eye. This process is called Occultation, where kids are encouraged to do close-up activities like reading, playing video games, and colouring while wearing the patch.

Lazy eye training

We have to mention that one of the best exercises to treat a lazy eye is to play video games. It is an interesting activity for most children and helps a lot in their treatment. It is because video games demand sharp eyesight and good reflexes, both of which always helps in improving the vision.

Eye drops named Atropine are used to temporarily blur the vision of the strongest eye, so that the brain gets trained to consider the inputs and signals from the weaker eye, gradually rectifying the weak nerve pathways.

Due to the lazy eye, the alignment of the weaker eye differs from that of, the stronger eye due to less work. To get the weaker eye re-aligned, Paediatric ophthalmologists will suggest some eye muscle exercises like pencil push-ups and computer vision therapy.

It is essential to know that after a child reaches 8 years, the effectivity of treatment reduces drastically. Therefore, leaves the children’s eyes lazy forever. It is one of those situations that need to be treated as soon as possible to get the best results. So, if you observe any irregularity or disturbance in your kids’ vision, we suggest you book an appointment with our experts in Paediatric treatment. We work to give you the best possible treatment to make your kids’ sight crisp and clear.