My baby looks as if he has crossed eyes. Will he grow out of it?
The correct term for this condition is strabismus. This occurs when the eyes are not properly aligned and happens when one or more of the muscles that move the eyes are either too short, too long, or misplaced on the eyeball. Depending on which muscle is affected, the eye may turn in, out, up, or down. The turn may be all the time or only when the child is tired/stressed. It may occur constantly in one eye or may alternate between the two.
In either case, but especially if the eye is turned constantly, take your child to get their eyes checked immediately. Do not assume the child will ‘grow out of it.’ At first , the doctor will determine if glasses and/or patching the turned eye can cause it to straighten, but if it does not, surgery is needed.
The doctor says my child needs
surgery; what should I do?
When a child has strabismus, one eye is looking straight ahead, and the other is turned. In the picture, the child’s brain thus receives two images side by side, the square and the circle. This will cause double vision and confusion. To prevent this, the brain decides to shut down the image from the turned eye – this is called suppression. The visual pathways from the eye to the brain will not develop properly in this ‘shut-down’ eye. If this is allowed to continue, the eye that the brain ignores will never see well, and this eye will become a ‘lazy eye.’ The correct term for this is ambylopia. Early surgery attempts to prevent this. If the child grows up using only one eye, they will have no depth perception, more eye strain/headaches from using only one eye instead of two, and may get teased by the other kids if the eye turn is severe.
What is involved in surgery?
Recent studies have found that the earlier the surgery is performed, the better the chance of the person developing binocular vision, which is where the eyes work together. The ophthalmologist will either lengthen, shorten, or move the muscle that is creating the problem. The patient will usually go home the same day of the surgery unless there are complications.
Can adults still straighten their
crossed eyes with surgery?
Yes, the eyes can be straightened, but they will not be able fuse the images together. Adults with severe eye turns have already suppressed the image from that eye, and the brain has got used to this. Surgery will make the eyes look straighter, but they will not work together (binocular vision).