Strabismus

Misalignment of the eyes causes one eye to deviate inward (esotropia) toward the nose or outward (exotropia) while the other eye stays focused. Strabismus is sometimes referred to as hypertropia and crossed eyes.

Misalignment can occur once in a while in infants, especially if they are exhausted, but they should outgrow it by three months of age.

Untreated strabismus in children can cause amblyopia, a condition in which the brain begins to misinterpret signals from the weaker, misaligned eye, resulting in visual impairments.

Strabismus is one of multiple symptoms that some children have of other illnesses, such as cerebral palsy, retinopathy of prematurity, retinoblastoma, and traumatic brain damage.

Signs and symptoms

• Eyes crossed
• Erratic eye motions
• Dual vision
• One-eyed vision with diminished depth perception

Identification

In the event that your physician diagnoses your child with strabismus, the following examinations will assist in assessing the severity of the issue and potential causes:

• Sharpness of vision
• Examining the retina
• Neurological assessment

Handling

In order to avoid vision issues and vision loss, it is critical to begin therapy as soon as feasible.

• Using eye workouts and spectacles to strengthen the eye muscles in order to realign the eyes
• When amblyopia occurs, stimulating the weaker eye by applying a patch over the stronger eye
• Surgery to correct the muscles

Children dislike the patch because they find it bothersome and upsetting. Ophthalmologists at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center have started employing less invasive procedures, such drops or customized eyewear, to momentarily impair vision in the stronger eye, thereby activating the weaker eye.

The eye doctors at Hopkins Children’s Center may employ an approach known as changeable sutures if surgery is required. A few hours after surgery, the surgeon carefully aligns the eyes in this process.

Instead of surgery, a new medication can now be used to cure some cases of strabismus. When injected into the stronger set of muscles, the medication temporarily weakens those muscles and lessens their pull, enabling the weaker muscle to strengthen.

Over a few months, the medication progressively wears off, and muscular balance and eye alignment are frequently recovered.

When to Request Assistance

If your child is older than three months and has misaligned eyes, even if it’s only occasionally, or if you observe that the child frequently looks with one eye closed or turns his or her head to one side when looking at items, consult a professional.