Strabismus Treatment
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- Overview
- What It Is
- Causes
- Risk Factors
- Diagnosis
- Symptoms
- Prognosis
- Living With
- Complications
- User Questions
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- Screening
- Medications
- Prevention
- Treatment
- Alternative Treatment
- Care Guide
- Questions for Your Doctor
- When to Contact a Doctor
- Find a Doctor
- Resource Guide
How to Treat Strabismus
Treatment may include:
Glasses
Glasses or contact lenses may be prescribed to improve your ability to focus and help overcome poor vision. With better eyesight, strabismus may improve. For some conditions, special prism lenses can be placed in the glasses to help reduce double vision that may occur with strabismus.
Patching
In children, an eye that is not properly aligned may not mature visually. If this is not corrected, permanent visual loss can occur (amblyopia). In some cases, a patch is applied over the good eye. This forces you to fixate and use the affected eye, therefore promoting visual development. The length of time the patch is worn depends on the severity of the condition and the age of the child.
Medication
Eye drops or ointment may be put in the good eye to blur the vision (usually by making the pupil large and preventing the eye from focusing well). This forces the affected eye to fixate properly and may be used as a substitute for patching.
In rare cases, injections of botulinum toxin may also be used to treat strabismus.
Surgery
Surgery may be used to straighten the eyes if nonsurgical means are not successful. Strabismus surgery may improve the ability of the eye muscles to bring the eyeball into proper alignment. During strabismus surgery, the eye surgeon generally moves one or more of the eye muscles to a different location on the eyeball.
