Lazy eyes or amblyopia is a visual impairment of one eye in children, because the brain and eyes are not connected properly, resulting in decreased vision.
The existence of lazy eyes in children will cause the quality or focus of vision produced by the two eyes to be different. In effect, the brain will only interpret the vision from the good eye and ignore the vision from the impaired eye (lazy eye). If not treated properly, lazy eyes can go blind.
Lazy eye generally occurs from birth to the age of 7 years. In some rare cases, this disease can affect both eyes.
Symptoms of Lazy Eyes
Children rarely know that they have a visual impairment or cannot explain it, so lazy eye is a difficult condition to detect. Therefore, parents should be aware of the following clinical signs and symptoms:
- The visible eyes don't work at the same time.
- One eye often moves inward or outward (squint).
- Children have difficulty estimating distance.
- One eye looks narrower than the other.
- Children often tilt their heads so they can see more clearly.
- Difficulty seeing 3D objects.
- Poor vision test results.
If parents notice any symptoms of lazy eye, they should immediately consult an ophthalmologist or pediatric ophthalmologist.
Causes of Lazy Eyes
Lazy eye occurs when the neural connections from one eye to the brain are not fully formed in childhood. Eyes with poor vision will send blurred or mistaken visual signals to the brain. Over time, the performance of the two eyes becomes out of sync and the brain will ignore the signals from the bad eye.
Lazy eye can occur in a child triggered by various things. Some of them are:
- Crossed eyes (strabismus). This is the most common trigger for lazy eye. This condition is often passed down genetically in families.
- refractive error, namely the difference in refraction in the two eyes, so the eye with clearer vision will be dominant to see. Examples of refractive errors are nearsightedness, farsightedness (plus eye), and astigmatism.
- Cataracts in children. Cataracts cause calcification of the lens of the eye, thus impairing vision. If it occurs only in one eye, it can trigger lazy eye in children.
- Injuries to the cornea of the eye. Injuries to the transparent layer at the front of the eye (corneal ulcers) can cause vision problems and lead to lazy eye in children.
- Drooping eyelids, so that it hinders
In addition to the triggers above, there are several factors that have the potential to increase the risk of lazy eye in a child. Among others are:
- Premature birth.
- Babies born with below normal weight.
- Hereditary factors, especially if there is a history of lazy eye
- Child development disorders.
Lazy Eye Diagnosis
Most children with lazy eye do not realize that one eye has vision problems, especially in early childhood. Parents can predict whether their child has lazy eye or not by paying attention to the symptoms of lazy eye that have been mentioned above. Parents can also perform a simple test to determine whether their child is suspected of having lazy eye or not, by taking turns closing one eye. In general, children will complain if it is the good eye that is covered, and will not complain if the lazy eye is covered. However, to determine whether the child has this disease or not, parents are strongly advised to check the child to the doctor.
When the child is examined, the doctor will check to ensure the condition of the child's eyes and vision, namely that:
- Both eyes can see equally well.
- There is nothing to block the entry of light into the inside of the eye.
- The two eyes move simultaneously and in harmony with each other.
Eye examinations can be done regularly at the age of 6 months, 3 years, and at school age to ensure the development of his vision. If during the examination, the doctor suspects that the child has lazy eye, then treatment will be started.
Lazy Eye Treatment
The severity of lazy eye and its impact on the child's vision will determine what treatment steps are appropriate. Generally, if lazy eye is diagnosed as early as possible, the success rate of recovery is quite good. Treatment started when the child is over 6 years of age has a lower success rate.
The principle of treating lazy eye is twofold, namely between forcing the use of the lazy eye to see, or treating the condition that causes this disease. Some of the treatments that the doctor will suggest are:
- Use of glasses. In the early days, most children will refuse to use special lazy eye glasses, because they feel their eyesight is better without them. Parents are advised to always keep their children wearing special lazy eye glasses, so that treatment can work well.
- Use of blindfolds. This tool is attached to the normal eye to stimulate the lazy eye, so that it develops in seeing. Just like the use of glasses, at the beginning of the therapy period, children sometimes refuse to use blindfolds, because they feel uncomfortable seeing. This method is most effective for people with toddlers, and eye patches are generally worn for 2-6 hours per day. Blindfold therapy can be combined with the use of glasses.
- Eye dropsspecial, which can obscure the view of the normal part of the eye. This will encourage children to use their lazy eye. However, eye drops like this have the potential to trigger side effects in the form of eye irritation, redness of the skin, and headaches.
- Operation.This procedure is recommended to treat cataracts and crossed eyes that trigger lazy eye. The operation is generally performed while the child is unconscious after being given general anaesthesia. After undergoing surgery, the child must undergo hospitalization as part of the recovery. Although it can't 100% improve visual abilities, the eyes will become more in sync, so their performance will increase.