EYe
Disorders
What
is strabismus?
Strabismus is a visual defect that causes the eyes not to point
in the same direction. What is adult strabismus?
After childhood, strabismus (misalignment of the eyes) will often
result in double vision (diplopia).
Esotropia
Inward
turning of one or both eyes. To learn more click here
Exotropia
Outward turning of one or both eyes. To learn more click
here.
Accomodative Esotropia
Turning inward of the eyes because the eye is working hard too
hard to focus to try to see clearly. To learn more click
here.
Pseudostrabismus
The appearance that the eye(s) turn inward caused by the wideness
of the bridge of the nose. For more information click
here.
What
is amblyopia?
Amblyopia (often called “lazy eye”) is vision in one
of the eyes that can’t be corrected with glasses, and occurs
in children while vision is still developing.
Adult Strabismus Adults
with eyes that are misaligned. To learn more click here
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A chalazion is an enlargement of an oilproducing gland in the eyelid called
the meibomian gland. It forms when the gland opening becomes
clogged with oil secretions. It is not
caused by an infection from bacteria and it is not cancerous.
Click here to view more detailed
information about chalazion.
Conjunctivitis is most commonly referred to as red or "pink" eye.
The conjunctiva, which contains tiny blood vessels, produces mucus
to coat and lubricate the surface of your eye. When the conjunctiva
becomes irritated or inflamed, the blood vessels become larger
and more prominent, making your eye appear red. Click
here to view more detailed information about Conjunctivitis.
Eyelid
margin disease is a common and persistent
inflammation of the eyelids. Symptoms include:
•
eye & eyelid irritation;
•
itchiness of the eye;
•
redness of the eye.
This condition frequently occurs in people who have a tendency
towards oily skin, dandruff or dry eyes. With blepharitis,
both the upper and lower eyelids become coated with oily particles
and bacteria near the base of the eyelashes.
It may cause irritation, itchiness, redness, and stinging or burning
of the eye. Click here to
view more detailed information about Eyelid margin disease.
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Abnormal
or overflow eye tearing is a common condition in infants. In
fact, approximately one-third of all newborns have
excessive tears and mucus. It occurs when a membrane (a skin-like
tissue) in the nose fails to open before birth, blocking
part of the tear drainage system. If tears do not drain properly,
they can collect inside the tear drainage system and spillover
the eyelid, leading to the development of conjunctivitis. Click
here to view more detailed information aboutAbnormal
or overflow eye tearing
What is accommodative esotropia?
Accommodative esotropia or refractive esotropia is eye crossing
that is caused (partially or wholly) by focusing efforts of
the eyes as they try to see clearly. Patients with refractive
esotropia are typically farsighted (hyperopic). This means
that the eyes must work harder to see clearly, particularly
when the object of regard is up close. This focusing effort
is called accommodation. The closer an object is to the eye,
the greater the amount of accommodation that is required. A
side effect of the accommodative effort is convergence or crossing
of the eyes. In general, the more farsighted a person is, the
greater the amount of effort they must exert and the more likely
they are to cross their eyes. However, not all farsighted people
will cross - some are more or less sensitive than others to
the extra work required to see clearly. Therefore, while two
individuals may have the same eye prescription strength, one
may cross and the other may have perfectly straight eyes.
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How is accommodative esotropia treated?
Initial treatment for accommodative esotropia usually involves
the prescription and full-time wearing of eyeglasses or contact
lenses to correct the patient’s refractive error (hyperopia).
By letting the eyeglasses do the work, the eyes can relax their
focusing or accommodative effort. In turn, this will reduce the
convergence or crossing stimulus and the eyes will straighten
as they relax
What happens after my child starts wearing glasses?
It is normal for the eyes to continue crossing without the glasses
and in fact the crossing may be even more noticeable than it
was before your child started wearing glasses. The important
matter is whether or not the eyes are sufficiently straight and
controlled with the glasses on. Your pediatric ophthalmologist
is the best person to judge this and will give you feedback at
your follow-up examinations. These follow-up examinations are
important not only to monitor the eye crossing, but also to monitor
for other associated problems such as amblyopia (vision loss
that may affect one or both eyes in young children).
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What role does surgery play in accommodative esotropia?
Surgery is only indicated if the eyeglasses fail to straighten
the eyes adequately while the glasses are on. In this case,
eye muscle surgery (strabismus surgery) may be recommended
to further
help improve the alignment of the eyes. In general, surgery
for refractive esotropia does not eliminate the need
for glasses
but rather fixes the amount of crossing that is “left-over” when
the glasses are on. The eyes will likely continue to cross
when the eyeglasses are off and surgery does not replace the
need
for eyeglasses.
Why do some children with accommodative esotropia require bifocals?
In some cases, children will have particularly excessive amounts
of eye crossing (esotropia) when looking at objects up close,
such as while reading. This may occur even when wearing the
correct glasses to correct their farsightedness (hyperopia)
and they
may have perfectly straight eyes when looking at objects further
away. These children may benefit from making the lower, reading
area of the eyeglasses “extra strong” in the form
of a bifocal lens. Top of page
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