health topics

How Do You Cure a Lazy Eye?

Early treatment can cure lazy eye and prevent long-term vision problems. Lazy eye treatment includes surgery, glasses or contact lenses, an eye patch over the stronger eye, or eye drops to blur the stronger eye.
Early treatment can cure lazy eye and prevent long-term vision problems. Lazy eye treatment includes surgery, glasses or contact lenses, an eye patch over the stronger eye, or eye drops to blur the stronger eye.

Lazy eye (amblyopia) is a condition in which there is poor vision in one eye due to a problem in how the brain and the eye work together, and the brain is unable to properly register the sight from one eye. This causes the brain to rely more on the stronger eye, resulting in vision in the weaker eye getting worse. 

Lazy eye begins in childhood, affecting about 3% of children. 

How to Fix a Lazy Eye

Early treatment works well to cure lazy eye and prevent long-term vision problems.

Treatment for lazy eye includes: 

  • Glasses or contact lenses 
    • For nearsightedness
    • For farsightedness
    • For astigmatism
  • Surgery 
    • To treat cataracts
    • To fix droopy eyelids
    • To strengthen muscles if due to crossed eyes
  • Training the weaker eye by making it work harder so it can get stronger
    • An eye patch worn over the stronger eye so that eye can't see
    • Eye drops to put in the stronger eye to blur vision in that eye

Vision may start to improve within a few weeks but it usually takes months to get the best results. Children may need to continue to use the treatments on occasion to prevent the lazy eye from returning. 

What Causes Lazy Eye?

Causes of lazy eye include: 

  • Crossed eyes (strabismus)
  • Refractive errors
    • Nearsightedness (difficulty seeing things far away)
    • Farsightedness (difficulty seeing things up close)
    • Astigmatism (which can cause blurred vision)
  • Cataracts (uncommon in children)

Risk factors for developing lazy eye include:

  • Premature birth
  • Being smaller than average at birth
  • A family history of lazy eye, childhood cataracts, or other eye conditions
  • Developmental disabilities

How Is Lazy Eye Diagnosed?

Lazy eye is usually diagnosed with a routine vision screening. All children ages 3 to 5 should have their vision checked.

If the doctor suspects a child has lazy eye, you will likely be referred to an ophthalmologist (an eye specialist) for a more detailed eye exam. 

What Can Happen Without Lazy Eye Treatment?

Complications of untreated lazy eye may include: 

  • Irreversible, lifelong decrease in vision
    • Reduced sharpness of vision
    • Reduced contrast sensitivity
    • Spatial distortion
    • Impaired contour detection
    • Blindness
  • Learning impairment 
  • Worsening of crossed eyes (strabismus)

From WebMD Logo

Eye Health Resources
Featured Centers
References
Image Source: iStock Images

https://www.uptodate.com/contents/crossed-eyes-and-lazy-eye-the-basics?search=lazy%20eye&source=search_result&selectedTitle=1~150&usage_type=default&display_rank=1

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430890/