Amblyopia and Your Child's Eyes
Amblyopia
is a condition that occurs in children when one eye has poorer
vision than the other. If amblyopia is left untreated, a child's
vision will not develop correctly. The child's brain, as it
matures, will start "ignoring" the image coming from the bad
eye. This causes vision in the affected eye to become even worse
as the child becomes a teenager. Because amblyopia can result in
permanent vision loss in one eye, it is important to have a
child with amblyopia regularly tested by an eye doctor.
What Causes Amblyopia?
Amblyopia is usually starts when one eye has much better
focus than the other eye. For example, one eye might be very
nearsighted or have a lot of astigmatism , while the other does
not. When the child's brain is confronted with both a blurry
image and a clear image, it will begin to ignore the blurry
image. If this goes on for months or years, the vision in the
eye that sees the blurry image will start to deteriorate even
further. Another possible result of the brain ignoring the
poorly functioning eye is a change in the alignment of the eyes,
with the poorly seeing eye turning inwards or outwards. This is
why amblyopia is sometimes called "lazy eye."
Another form of lazy eye that can cause amblyopia is called
strabismus. Strabismus or ocular misalignment prevents the eyes
from focusing together on an image. This can cause double
vision. In order to combat this, the child's brain generally
chooses to ignore the image from the deviated eye, causing the
vision in that eye to eventually deteriorate.
Other children cannot see well in one eye because there
something blocks light from getting through. This could be due,
among other causes, to a cataract or a small amount of blood or
other material in the back of the eye.
Next: How is amblyopia diagnosed? »
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