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Lazy Eye
Treatment and Detection of Amblyopia
By Jenn Director Knudsen
Williams feels harried and frustrated, having found out Justin's condition as a 6-year-old on the verge of turning 7. So Justin's lazy eye is being aggressively treated. Other, more drastic, options do exist for kids with amblyopia, but they may prove unnecessary and too extreme for children like Justin.
Dr. Michael Repka, professor of ophthalmology and pediatrics at the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore and chair of the NEI study, encourages Justin to continue to wear the patch and to avoid further measures at this point. "We have no data to suggest he cannot get better at this age, and I would urge them to try to treat [with the patch]," Dr. Repka says of Justin's family.
Dr. Neigel points out that amblyopia is strictly a childhood problem. Adults who must be patched for medical reasons, including a disease of the thyroid that causes double vision, will not develop lazy eye.
Williams has been looking into a practice called Vision Therapy, whose practitioners believe a child of any age can beat amblyopia (and other vision problems, including those not solely seen in children). As defined by the American Optometric Association (AOA), vision therapy is individualized to each patient and uses equipment, such as lenses, prisms and filters, ultimately to improve a patient's sight and quality of life.