Live Life Team
Diagnosis:
Generally the eyes of the newborn are checked at birth and again after about 6 to 8 weeks. Children are again taken in for an eye check up before they start school. There are many other tests done in order to detect the possibility of the squint and also to check the level of the child’s vision. The tests conducted would depend on the age of the child; they would also include the following:
Letter chart reading,
Looking at the light,
Looking at the visual objects, like a toy, which would be placed at different stages, by covering one eye at a time, and
Matching of pictures and letters.
In the cases where the person has been detected with a squint he will be asked to go in for advanced examination so as to check the eyes if spectacles would be needed.
If a child is suspected of a squint the chief professionals who would take over the situation are Orthoptists, who are specially trained so as to gauge adults and children suffering from amblyopia that is lazy eyes and squints, Ophthalmologists who are specialized eye doctors who would check the child’s eyes and would perform an operation if required, Optometrists who would check the eyes so as to stipulate spectacles.
A surgery for squint correction has 2 chief advantages. This surgery could make the alignment of the eyes better and could also aid in getting them to operate together which is called binocular vision or both too. But it should be kept in mind that the aim of the surgery is not to improve the vision but to rectify the squint.
Treatment:
This is a state which if treated earlier the better. The treatment is effective highly if done in childhood. As the child grows older the squint would get more prominent rather than diminishing.
There are various treatments done so as to rectify a squint, they are as follows:
This condition can be rectified with the help of eye exercises and eye drops.
In case the sufferer of a squint has long sightedness then glasses would be recommended, which would aid in rectifying squint and long sightedness as well.
In a few cases even Botox that is Botulinum toxin is injected in a muscle on the facade of the eye.
Even wearing a patch on the normal eye would help as it would encourage the defective eye to get trained and strive towards working properly.
In cases where none of the above treatments work then the last option would be a surgery.
A surgery in case of a squint would require the movement of the muscles linked to the outer side of the eye to a different place.
In case the squint is not treated then the chances of developing lazy eye that is amblyopia are high.
The risks of surgery:
After the surgery the eyes are prone to infection.
In case the squint is very big then there are chances that there would be a need of another surgery.
Rarely there are cases where the inner eye could be damaged.
In very rare cases there are chances of the eye remaining red in the long run.
Rarely there are chances of one of the muscles of the eye slipping.
Rarely children might complain of dual vision which would get better within a week’s time.
There are chances of the squint resurfacing.
After care:
There is usually no restriction after the surgery apart from a few painkillers, which should be taken for a few days.
