Amblyopia (Lazy Eye)

[chatelaine]

Hi


Was wondering any parents had children with the above symptom or encountered ppl who had it.

What’s the cure for it and recovery time?

Any Dr. recommendation?

[twinklejoy]

my cousin has it and has gone through op to insert a len.

didn’t really improve after the op but at least can see more light.

Doctor will advise to practise looking at objects(far and near) using that lazy eye daily, say for…30mins. have to cover the other healthy eye while practising.

[chatelaine]

Hi twinklejoy


Thanks for your reply.

How old was your cousin when she/he did the op?

[chatelaine]

I checked online, it mentioned doing some therapy by patching the good eyes for at least 3mths 2hrs daily. While surgery is the later part which is to correct the appearance but doesn’t cure the root problem.


My kid is still young, thk he will remove the patching before the time is up.

Hoping to get more advice here from parents. Thanks!

[twinklejoy]

chatelaine:

Hi twinklejoy


Thanks for your reply.

How old was your cousin when she/he did the op?

No problem chatelaine. Sorry that I can't really help much..

my cousin is in his mid 30 when he did the op.
you are right to say that it did not cure the root. he mentioned that the imagines he sees, still blur and sometime, that lazy eye just 'blackout'.
so he always has headache...we think he's using the other healthy eye too much(which he can't help it too)that resulted his frequent headache.

My other cousin's kid who is around 4yrs old, has lazy eye too.
She is practising the half hour daily eye exercise. She told us that the purpose of this exercise is actually to 'tell' the brain to use the lazy eye to focus more often.

Hope other parents with lazy eyes kids can offer and exchange info here! :love:

[3kiddos]

Dd1 was diagnosed at 5yo (end K1) caused by rather high astigmatism in one eye. We got a referral to the eye clinic at KKH.


Had to patch her good eye for 4hrs a day in the initial months. Eventually reduced to 3hrs, then 2hrs, with weekends off. All in, we patched her good eye for abt 9 mths until the lazy eye was cured.

How old is your child? I think as long as we’re firm enough, they do understand the need for patching. Dd was very resistant and uncomfortable at first as well, but she got used to it. Wasn’t too bad.

[chatelaine]

Hi twinklejoy


I really appreciate your reply :love:
Some Dr. just want to earn money or have no proper knowledge will suggest to do surgery instead of therapy. Just saw an article that a 66yrs old grandmother lazy eye was fully corrected after three months of vision therapy.

Nevertheless, it's best to discover the symptom early and seek proper treatment.

Information of this symptom can be found here: http://www.childrensvision.com/lazyeye.htm

[chatelaine]

Hi 3kiddos


My DS is only 1.5yrs old. I noticed it when he's like 2mths old, thinking it will go away as babies had this problem. But symptom still exist.

Hmm... I think 5yrs old kid will more or less listen to instruction. My DS is quite stubborn :roll:

Have to think of a way to keep his hands away from the patching.

BTW, what do you use to patch your DD eyes? Made of cloth material? Bought from where?

3kiddos:

Dd1 was diagnosed at 5yo (end K1) caused by rather high astigmatism in one eye. We got a referral to the eye clinic at KKH.

Had to patch her good eye for 4hrs a day in the initial months. Eventually reduced to 3hrs, then 2hrs, with weekends off. All in, we patched her good eye for abt 9 mths until the lazy eye was cured.

How old is your child? I think as long as we're firm enough, they do understand the need for patching. Dd was very resistant and uncomfortable at first as well, but she got used to it. Wasn't too bad.

[3kiddos]

I see, your little one is still very young. Just wondering how you managed to get it diagnosed at such a young age? Is it caused by myopia/astig?


From what I know (but better to check with doc to be sure), astig is stable as it’s related to the shape of the eyeball. In dd’s case, I was told by the specialist that she wd hv had it from birth but because she has one good eye, she can see perfectly well unless she can’t use her good eye (hence the lazy eye and the need to patch her good eye to exercise the weak one). Since astig degree doesnt tend to change, once the lazy eye is corrected, it’s stable. She’s in P2 now and hasnt needed to change the degree of her glasses since K1.

The patches we used can be found at hospital pharmacies (ours from CGH which is close to my parents’ home). They were more comfortable for dd and more easily removed than the ones from Watsons/Guardian. Cheaper too. Brand was Ortopad.

[twinklejoy]

Hey chatelaine, you see, 3kiddos' dd1's lazy eye is cured! :rahrah: Hooray!! That's so encouraging, isn't it? :dancing:

so, like what 3kiddos has mentioned, be firm and consistent. I sincerely hope that your kid' will say bye bye to the lazy eye in 9months' time(or even lesser.. like the old grandma's!!) :love: