Amblyopia (Lazy eye)

The first time I had ever noticed that something was wrong with my eye was way back in 1990 at a Halloween party after someome had taken my picture. At first I thought, "That is weird - it is like my eye has a mind of its' own." Well, little did I realize that in essence it actually did and that it would only get much worse in the following years to come - making it extemely difficult to judge depth perception and what's worse, possibly putting my current job in serious jeopardy. It is called "lazy eye" (amblyopia) and it is definitly not a joke! ...

What exactly is amblyopia?

Lazy eye (amblyopia) is reduced vision in one eye caused by abnormal visual development early in life. The weaker — or lazy — eye often wanders inward or outward.

Amblyopia generally develops from birth up to age 7 years. It is the leading cause of decreased vision among children. Rarely, lazy eye affects both eyes. 

Early diagnosis and treatment can help prevent long-term problems with your child's vision. The eye with poorer vision can usually be corrected with glasses or contact lenses, or patching therapy. 

Signs and symptoms of lazy eye include:

• An eye that wanders inward or outward
• Eyes that appear to not work together
• Poor depth perception
• Squinting or shutting an eye
• Head tilting
• Abnormal results of vision screening tests

Sometimes lazy eye is not evident without an eye exam. When I was a child, this was never detected so therefore it never got corrected before it was too late. My optometrist told me that there is no surgery which will fix the "lazy eye" and the reason is because a) it was not corrected as a child, and b) the brain and the eye muscle can not communicate so therefore even eye therapy would unfortunately do nothing to help me:

When to see a doctor:  See your child's doctor if you notice his or her eye wandering after the first few weeks of life. A vision check is especially important if there's a family history of crossed eyes, childhood cataracts or other eye conditions.

Yes, my dad also had it but not as severe. His, like mine, also had not actually shown up until a bit later in life. I first noticed it in myself when I was in my mid-twenties.