Amblyopia

Question: Amblyopia? i have lazy eye, other wise know as Amblyopia. can any kind of surgery help this or not, what i mean is get some kind of surgery, then use glasses/contact. is this curable even though im 15?

Answer: I use to have a lazy eye. What can fix this problem is Visual Training. But it is quiet expensive. But it helps A LOT. There is no surgery involved and you can wear glasses and contacts. I currently am using contacts. Here is a website that might help you, http://www.lazyeye.org/#causes.

Question: amblyopia? Hi. I have amblyopia from when I was very young. I got it corrected at age 4 from eye surgery....I'm 14 now and want contacts...Do you think I can wear them? And yes I plan to ask a doctor but my appointment isn't until september because he was booked... well sometimes my eyes still drift when I don't focus but I do eye exercises to correct it. oops forgot to mention I also have Strabismus

Answer: I had amblyopia, when I was young, as well. I think your doctor will probably o.k. the lenses. I, actually, got to have lasic surgery to have my eyes see in mono vision. The lasic vision dr. was worried that my brain wouldn't do well with mono vision, as so many people's lasic vision does not do well with that. But, my idea was that since I'd had ambliopia as a child, had one eye patched (the good eye) so that the lazy eye WOULD have to work, I figured my brain had already figured out how to do monovision. So, it worked out just great. With one eye, I am actually seeing up close, and with the other I am seeing farther away. My eyes just work for both, without glasses, since the lasic surgery.

Question: Has anyone ever been an airline transport pilot with Amblyopia? Amblyopia is lazy eye. I want to be able to work for an airline company when I am older. I am 15 at the minute. Would be a shame to be restricted to a JAR Class 2 medical certificate.

Answer: no.. i am not

Question: What are good visual near activities for amblyopia patients? My 8 year old little sister has amblyopia in her left eye.

Answer: she could draw pictures,or play pc games or better games on gameboy ,nintendo ds,PSP...

Question: How long do kids need to wear a patch if they have amblyopia? My two year old son has amblyopia of his left eye. He has had to wear a patch for half of his waking time for the last six months. The Dr. told me that he may need to continue doing this for the next 6 months to year. I was curious how long kids usually have to keep doing this until their problem is "fixed"?

Answer: My son wore his for 2 years. The length of time each day did go down. 8 hours, 6 hours etc. He now has 20/20 vision in that eye.

Question: Any advice on how to drive with amblyopia? Amblyopia is a disease where (for me) I am about half blind in my right eye. I am legally a quarter blind. I'm learning how to drive and I have a problem with 1) my good eye (left eye) getting tired after a while and 2) pulling to the right of the lane while driving. Any advice?

Answer: I have amblyopia from strabismus (crossed eyes). I have almost no vision in my right eye. I don't like driving either, because I have a bigger than normal blind spot. One thing that helps is putting blind spot mirrors on your side mirrors. They are very easy to put on. Another thing that helps is a larger rare view mirror with a fish eye quality. All of these will decrease your blind spots. I don't think I could drive safely without these extra mirrors because I have to turn my head to see anything on my right side. Backing out of parking spaces is the worst because my nose blocks my vision when I turn around. I usually have to use my mirrors. Also.. try to get a car with good visibility in every direction!

Question: Amblyopia and strabismus. Is there any hope for adults with this problem? I recently came out of surgery for this issue at age 26. The 3rd surgery actually through my lifetime. The weaker eye is still not completely corrected. What can I do?

Answer: Strabismus -- yes there is hope. Strabismus means that one of your eyes deviates up, down, right, or left in comparison to the other. Strabismus can be corrected by surgery. BUT Amblyopia -- not much hope here. Amblyopia is a brain adaptive response that occurs very early in life in response to the strabismus. In amblyopia, the brain actively suppresses (turns off) the deviating eye. This suppression causes the brain to no longer accept central visual acuity information from the deviating eye (therefore your vision is blurred) while both eyes are open. Once the brain has adapted and suppressed the deviating eye it is very unlikely in adult life to be able to cause the brain to again "listen" to the deviated eye while both eyes are open even if surgery has cosmetically straightened the eye. Hope this helped.

Question: Would a psycho stimulant like amphetamine improve vision in a person with amblyopia? No joke. I have a slight astigmatism in my left eye, and was patched ineffectively as a child. When I have taken psycho stimulants in the past, I have noticed less eye strain and a decrease of blurriness and double vision.

Answer: nope

Question: Can i be a Marine Corps officer with amblyopia aka lazy eye? My vision is 20/20 in my good eye and 20/70 in my bad eye but is supposed to improved to 20/50. Shooting is not a problem because i shoot left handed and my left eye is my good eye.

Answer: It would likely depend on if your vision in your right eye is compromised by the lazy eye - you need two good eyes. Here's the MEPS standard which doesn't state anything of Amblyopia but it does say: "(4) Deformity of the lids (374.4), complete or extensive, sufficient to interfere with vision or impair protection of the eye from exposure" is a disqualifier.

Question: Are there ways to strengthen my eye muscles if I had amblyopia surgery when I was 3? I'm not having problems now. I was just curious.

Answer: You didn't have amblyopia surgery, you had strabismus surgery. There's a pretty big difference between the two conditions, although lots of people have both. There are eye exercises to improve muscle coordination and ranges and things, but depending how they did the surgery, some of them might not work. You'd really have to see somebody who specializes in this sort of thing -- either a strabismus surgeon, or a vision therapist, or a specialist binocular vision, something along those lines.

Question: Can i Join the Army or Marine Corps and be in infantry or special forces if i have amblyopia aka lazy eye ? My eye does not cause me to have depth perception problems, its not sensitive to light, and i dont have double vision. The only thing it does is it affects my vision to wear its 20/70 in my bad eye. My other eye is perfect. Shooting is not a problem because i shoot with my left hand and my left eye is my good eye.

Answer: Yes and no. I have the EXACT same problem. when i went to enlist at 18 my eyesight was disqualifying. i had 20/20 ion left eye and 20/200 in my right. The optomotrist said it was a nerve problem and uncorrectable, but it would mature with age and get better, just not perfect. 4 years later, im 22 and getting ready to enlist. My good eye matured more and is now 15/20 and my previously bad eye is down to 20/40 or 50. Both of our numbers are good enough for entry into army or USMC. However, with the Marines, we cannot be vehicle drivers/gunners (including tanks, lav,s bradley,s etc... or pilots.) We also cannot qualify for special force duty. All of those mos's require visual accuracyof 20/20. And i also shoot with my good eye. Im right handed, with my right eye the bad one, and i shoot left handed. The following is the eye sight requirments for military service. As you can see, since we have 20/20 in 1 eye, were allowed to have up to 20/400 in our bad eye. (unless applying for ocs/rotc) http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningth… good luck

Question: Does your child have Accommodative Esotropia with Amblyopia? If so did your child have surgery? My son is scheduled for esotropia surgery next month. I am very nervous about it. He has been wearing a patch over his strong eye to strengthen his weak eye. But still his eye slightly drifts while wearing his glasses so he is recommended for surgery.

Answer: MOST accommodative esotropes dont need surgery. BUT: if your child is STILL crossed even when wearing the MAX Rx...then your child is the exception. patching doesnt stop the crossing. it never was designed to. it doesnt "strengthen" anything, either (musculature, etc). it just improves the acuity of the weaker eye.

Question: I have amblyopia and exotropia will my glasses look normal? i have worse vision in my left eye so the doctor says my brain ignores the images i see since they come out blurry. so i have to get glasses to correct the vision in my left eye so it will work with my right eye. i dont have to have prisms. will my glasses be normal looking or will i look like a freak?

Answer: The glasses will look perfectly normal. The left lens is simply going to be of proper prescription to improve the vision in the left eye so the brain does not suppress the information, resulting in the proper use of both eyes. When the 'blurred' image of the left eye becomes sharp again the brain will automatically use it again, as is determined by your doctor. If you had amblyopia that was so severe that correction didn't realign the eye then prisms , therapy, or other measures would be used.

Question: Can I wear colored contact lenses if I have amblyopia (lazy eye) in one eye? I want to have fun and experiment with colored contact lenses, but I already wear a contact lens for amblyopia in my one eye. Would I be able to wear colored contact lenses?

Answer: Probably no reason why not, as long as you get them through your eye Dr. You don't want to be fooling around with cheap lenses being as you only have one good eye. Whether your Dr. will agree to having you fool around with colors, which are of inferior quality compared to the newer brands of clear lenses is another story.

Question: What help can i get with my Amblyopia? Okay, i'm 16 and i just recently found out i had Refractive Amblyopia, is it untreatable at 16 and what can i do to at least improve the sight in my weak eye? I'm a little worried about me ending up with total blurred vision as the weaker eye is merely very blurred (i can't read small text with my stronger eye patched) also, will i be able to drive? and what jobs will i be precluded from?

Answer: I'm 18 and I was diagnosed with Amblyopia when I was 4. When I was young I never wanted to do any of the annoying treatments, and now of course, I regret that. However, there have been recent studies and many opthalmologists are treating Amblyopia through vision therapy. I can only see the top line of a letter chart with my good eye covered. I just started vision therapy 2 weeks ago, and it's a lot of different eye exercises that really work your bad eye, and also help both of your eyes focus together, rather than just using your good eye. You will be allowed to drive without any restrictions as long as your stronger eye is at least 20/40. I'm not really sure about jobs though

Question: Is there a way to correct lazy eye (Amblyopia) in adults ? I tried looking it up online but all I read is stories of people who have it and there isn't much information about treatments and what not. To be specific, is there treatment to someone at the age of 21 ?

Answer: it is generally accepted that amblyopic eyes dont usually get much better vision in adults even with aggressive therapy. there are some new studies that indicate SOME progress can be made in adults with amblyopia who do aggressive therapy (patching, etc), but the methods work much, much better in children under 8. no problem to STRAIGHTEN a "crossed" eye, etc at age 21. but making that eye see 20/20 is statistically improbable

Question: What is the difference between Nystagmus and amblyopia?

Answer: Nystagmus is an Involuntary MOVEMENT of an Eye or Eyes, Amblyopia results From the Brain "Turning Off" Signals From an Eye.

Question: Can lazy eye exercises correct amblyopia ? I've read somewhere that special eye exercises can correct lazy eye. Is that true ?. What kind of exercises are they ?

Answer: Amblyopia can be dramatically improved by performing lazy eye exercises. A study shows that with a continuous treatment, some people can recover from lazy eye, or amblyopia in just about two weeks. No matter what form of treatment the doctor recommends, eye exercises will help to strengthen your eye muscles as part of your therapy program. Below are three basic methods to improve your vision. 1. Eye Patch Eye patch is probably the most recommended form of treatment because it is safe, effective and inexpensive. The very act of wearing an eye patch itself can be considered as part of the exercise. By covering the dominant eye with an eye patch, the weaker eye is forced to work harder and can communicate with the brain. 2. Training the eyes After the good eye is covered with an eye patch, you can begin treating the amblyopic eye with lazy eye exercises. Three exercises specially developed to train lazy eyes are : focusing, rolling and tracking. Focusing Skills This exercise should be performed by quick shifting focus from near to far distance. For example, read printouts numbers on a sheet of paper then quickly shift your eye to look to a wall calendar. Rolling Cover the stronger eye with a patch, then roll the eyes with circular motion. Tracking Another lazy eye exercise is tracking. Tracking can help people to integrate the central and peripheral vision. The central vision inform us about the object we are looking at and the peripheral vision tells us to locate the objects. Good vision should have good integration of both these visions. Here is how to do : use your eye to track the outline of a circle or any other shape. Track the image continuously without any interruption. 3. Focusing on small objects Train the weaker eye to look small objects or read letters in a book or newspaper. Remember to cover the stronger eye with eye patch and do this exercise at least one hour each day. If you like you can also do crossword puzzles or any other print games on magazines. Some researchers have developed therapy computer game to help improving the neurons in the brain controlling eye function. It is said that this special therapeutic game can boost the result of lazy eye treatments. Many people have experienced significant result by following lazy eye exercises without the help of eye surgery and artificial lenses. The exercises can effectively help you treat amblyopia at any age, even if your parents have poor eyesight condition.

Question: Who to see about possible amblyopia? I have had strabismus since birth and I suspect I might have amblyopia, though I have had a few eye exams during my life, the most information I have gained from any of them was that I have a "turned eye" and that it was too late to correct it. That was a few years ago. More recently I had a vision test in an eyeglass shop and was told I have perfect vision. Which kind of professional should I see about this problem?

Answer: An optometrist or ophthalmologist...they are both there for the eyes. If you have perfect vision in the " turned" eye, then you don't have amblyopia.

Question: Is there a way to fix amblyopia? From what I hear, it's best to cure it at childhood and now I'm 18. But I'm wondering if there's a way to fix amblyopia in any way. I'm also wondering if amblyopia can be fixed by the use of laser eye surgery.

Answer: Laser treatment is not useful *for the amblyopia*. Any Rx present in the amblyopic eye would need correction: glasses, contacts, laser... as part of any treatment. Laser doesn't tackle the amblyopia itself. If there is a large difference in Rx between the eyes (one underlying cause of amblyopia) spectacles may not be the best route, except for training with the other lens balcked out. 18 is late, but more recent studies have pushed up the age at which effective treatment can be done, at least in some people, to 18 and beyond. (from 7, 8 or 12 previously) It will involve patching of the better eye, and training exercises for the weaker one. The specifics for each individual will be down to professional advice, depending not least on the depth of amblyopia present, and whether or not there is any presence or hope of binocular vision.