Strabismus (An eye turn)

It can not be overstated how important it is to diagnose and treat strabismus as early as possible in a child’s life. Strabismus is a misalignment of the eyes and is best treated at very early ages in order to avoid the development of amblyopia and other visual inefficiencies. That is why we strongly suggest that all children are examined within the first year of life.

Treatment of Strabismus

In strabismus, the first thing required after diagnosis is to try and help the child or adult to learn how to coordinate the use of both eyes simultaneously. Our brains use the images of both eyes to help develop 3-D vision or stereopsis. The process of re-training the brain to use both eyes together to eliminate strabismus utilizing the principles of perceptual learning and optometric vision therapy addresses the root cause of the eye muscle issues. There are cases where eye muscle surgery may be helpful and much like a person undergoes physical therapy before and after orthopedic surgery, vision therapy can be very helpful in ensuring a successful surgical outcome.

There is a wonderful video on the treatment of childhood esotropia with the help of vision therapy done by a colleague that can be viewed here.

Neurobiologist, Dr. Sue Barry, has written a book on the treatment of strabismus outside of youth. You can learn more here.