Your eyes depend on teamwork to focus and provide you with clear vision. It’s this teamwork that enables your eyes to point in the same direction whenever you look at an object.
Sometimes, though, that coordinated activity fails: One eye stays focused, but the other drifts in a different direction. This is a condition called strabismus (or sometimes “crossed eyes”), and it can have a big impact not only on your child’s vision, but on their development and success in school and other settings, too.
At ABC Children's Eye Specialists, our team is skilled in state-of-the-art strabismus diagnosis and treatment. Here, learn how to tell if your child has strabismus and what treatments can help.
Most of us don’t give a lot of thought to the way our eyes move, but that movement is actually controlled by six separate muscles on each eye that work together to help you see objects in a multitude of directions. Typically, the 12 muscles move together to provide binocular (two-eyed) vision.
Strabismus develops when one or more of these muscles is damaged or weak, allowing one or both eyes to roam independently. The misalignment between eyes can happen in different ways:
Strabismus can involve just one eye or both eyes intermittently, making vision even more challenging.
Strabismus can also vary in its severity. Small-angle strabismus involves more subtle misalignment of the eyes, while large-angle strabismus is more severe, and misalignment is more noticeable. Both types can have a big impact on your child’s vision.
Some kids are born with strabismus while others develop it later on. Genetics, nerve-related issues, and even severe refractive errors like farsightedness can play a role.
While some types of strabismus (notably, large-angle strabismus) are immediately visible, simply because of the degree of misalignment, less severe types can be harder to spot.
In addition to evaluating how well your child’s eyes “line up,” it’s important to know what other symptoms are associated with strabismus so you can seek treatment as early as possible.
Because strabismus makes it harder for your child to focus when reading or doing other tasks, their eyes are subjected to more strain as they constantly seek clearer focus. As a result, many kids with strabismus have chronic headaches or eye fatigue that interferes with homework, reading, or doing other focused tasks.
Your child may complain that written text “moves” or “jumps” on the page, or they may have double vision. They may continually squint or tilt their head or even cover one eye in an effort to gain better focus.
Strabismus also takes a toll on depth perception. If your child has strabismus, they may be more clumsy or have difficulty judging distances, making it harder to play sports or avoid simple accidents.
Many kids benefit from vision correction therapy, a 12-week program that features special exercises to strengthen and tone the muscles that control eye movement. Therapy includes weekly visits, along with activities and exercises for your child to practice regularly at home between visits.
In more severe cases of strabismus, we may recommend surgery to address muscle issues that lead to misalignment. During strabismus surgery, we reposition the eye muscles so they’re able to control eye movement more accurately. Afterward, vision therapy helps the muscles “relearn” how to work in tandem.
Strabismus is just one eye problem that can take a toll on your child’s vision and development. Having routine childhood eye exams is the best way to catch issues early so they can be treated before they have a major impact on your child.
To learn more about strabismus or to schedule an exam for your child, call our offices to book an appointment with the team at ABC Children’s Eye Specialists in Phoenix, Avondale, and Mesa, Arizona, today.
