Amblyopia: Diagnosing and Treating "Lazy Eye"

Many eye conditions and diseases can affect children’s vision. It is important that children receive good eye care even at an early age, because that is when many vision problems begin. If left untreated, vision problems can get worse and then cause problems in school, at home and later in adult life.

The leading cause of vision impairment in children is amblyopia. Amblyopia (am-blē-΄ō-pē-ә) is also commonly called “lazy eye”.

What is Amblyopia?

Amblyopia is a condition that causes decreased vision in one or two eyes that cannot be explained by structural abnormalities of the eyes. In amblyopia, visual information either fails to transmit or is poorly transmitted from the eye to the brain for a continuous period of time. The eye is a camera that sends a message to the brain then your brain tells you what you are seeing. Anything that interferes with the signal will cause loss of vision in an eye. Approximately 3% of children are affected with amblyopia.

Amblyopia, Strabismus and Ptosis

The term “lazy eye” is often misused by the general population when describing an eye that drifts inward (toward the nose) or outward (toward the ear) or to describing a droopy eyelid. The medical term for eye misalignment is strabismus and the medical term for droopy eyelid is ptosis. A person who suffers from a “lazy eye” has a condition known as amblyopia.

Common Causes of Amblyopia

Anything that blurs a child's vision can result in amblyopia. Amblyopia is a treatable condition and early diagnosis, and treatment is critical to help maintaining good vision.

1. Eye muscles imbalance. The most common cause of amblyopia is an imbalance in the muscles that position the eyes. This imbalance can cause the eyes to turn in or turn out and prevents the eyes from working together. This is called strabismus amblyopia.
2. Difference in sharpness of vision between the eyes. A significant difference between the prescriptions in each eye, often due to farsightedness (hyperopia) but sometimes to nearsightedness (myopia) or an uneven surface curve of the eye (astigmatism), can result in amblyopia. This is called refractive amblyopia.
3. A problem with one eye, such as a cloudy area in the lens (cataract) or droopy eyelid (ptosis), can restrain clear vision in that eye. This is called deprivation amblyopia.

Treatments for Amblyopia

The most common treatment for amblyopia is wearing an eye patch over the strong “good eye” to force the week “bad” eye to work. Other treatments such as using dilating eye drops (penalization) on the strong “good eye”, or glasses may also be used as treatments for amblyopia. Sometimes surgery can also be required to treat amblyopia.

It is important to stay compliant with the treatment prescribed by the eye care professional, because there are severe consequences associated with untreated amblyopia.

Problems Associated with Untreated Amblyopia

• Decreased vision in one or two eyes that cannot later be corrected by glasses.
• Changes in behavior/depression
• Difficulty in school with reading
• Legal blindness

Ohio Amblyope Registry Program (OAR)

The state of Ohio is a leading state in fighting amblyopia and providing free treatment, education and compliance materials to amblyopic children and their family. If you are an Ohio resident, are under the age of 18 years old and diagnosed with amblyopia, you are eligible to register with the Ohio Amblyope Registry Program. All items provided are free of charge.

For more information, please visit the Ohio Amblyope Registry Program on their website or on Facebook.