What is amblyopia?

Under normal conditions, your eyes send slightly different images to the brain's vision center, which integrates them into a 3D picture we call binocular vision. This skill is developed in early childhood. But when something causes your brain to favor one eye's data over that of the other, you end up with a view of the world that lacks the necessary depth for you perceive and move around in it easily and safely. This is amblyopia, and it can cause problems in balance, driving, sports performance, hand-to-eye coordination, and other important aspects of daily living.

The nickname "lazy eye" is a misnomer, since both eyes are working equally hard to deliver signals that the brain then treats as unequal partners in creating vision.

Amblyopia typically begins during infancy and early childhood. In most cases, only one eye is affected. But in some cases, amblyopia can occur in both eyes. If a lazy eye is detected early in life and promptly treated, reduced vision can be avoided, but untreated lazy eye can cause permanent loss of vision in the affected eye.

It's estimated that about 2 to 3 percent of the U.S. population has some degree of amblyopia.

What causes amblyopia?

There are three main causes of amblyopia

STRABISMIC AMBLYOPIA

Strabismus is the most common cause of lazy eye. To avoid double vision caused by poorly aligned eyes, the brain will ignore the visual input from the misaligned eye, leading to amblyopia in that eye (the "lazy eye").

DEPRIVATION AMBLYOPIA

Deprivation amblyopia is amblyopia caused by something that obstructs light from entering a baby’s eye. A congenital cataract is frequently responsible for this form of amblyopia, and proper treatment is necessary to support continued visual development.

REFRACTIVE AMBLYOPIA

Sometimes, a lazy eye is caused by unequal refractive errors in the two eyes, despite perfect eye alignment. For example, one eye may have significant nearsightedness or farsightedness, while the other eye does not. Or one eye may have significant astigmatism and the other eye does not. In such cases, the brain relies on the eye that has less uncorrected refractive error and "tunes out" the blurred vision from the other eye, causing amblyopia in that eye from disuse. This type of lazy eye is called refractive amblyopia (or anisometropic amblyopia).

What are the treatment options for amblyopia?

Amblyopia is not correctable with glasses or contact lenses alone. However, vision therapy is often an appropriate treatment option.

Vision therapy involves an individualized treatment program that is designed to correct or improve visual deficiencies. Vision therapy includes different techniques and eye exercises (depending on the vision deficiency being treated), such as patching the stronger eye to force the brain to pay attention to signals transmitted from the amblyopic eye, eye alignment exercises and eye teaming activities, which help correct and enhance the brain’s ability to communicate with the eyes. It has been found to be far more successful in treating amblyopia than eye surgery or corrective glasses alone.

The earlier a child with amblyopia enters vision therapy, the better. Research has long since disproven the popular belief that older children or even adults with amblyopia cannot be helped; however, it is best to begin treating amblyopia as soon as possible.

How is Amblyopia diagnosed?

Dr. David Antonyan of Vivid Visions Optometry, Inc uses the latest equipment to thoroughly evaluate the health of your eyes and assess the presence of Amblyopia in your eyes during a Binocular Vision Evaluation.