Strabismus is a visual deficiency that causes the loss of alignment of both visual axes when focusing on a particular object.
CAUSES
Strabismus can appear at birth or in adulthood or even in children.
Strabismus is caused by the involvement of the extraocular muscles due to:
⦁ The main cause in children is when there is some graduation of both eyes or one eye only that is not treated with glasses or the necessary treatment. For example, a child of 2 years that one eye has a prescription that should be corrected in glasses and does not wear it and automatically the brain eliminates the image of the eye that needs the prescription and that eye no longer works as the other and tends to deviate.
⦁ Affection of birth in the development of the cerebral part that coordinates the movements of the eyes.
⦁ Head trauma.
⦁ Diseases such as diabetes mellitus or Graves’ disease where the nerves responsible for eye movement are affected so that the information does not reach the brain and affects the mobility of the muscle.
CLASSIFICATION OF STRABISMUS
⦁ Depending on the direction of the deviation can be convergent, divergent, hypertropia or hypotropia.
⦁ Depending on the affected eye may be alternating, that means the deviation alternates between the right eye and the left eye.
⦁ According to the duration can be intermittent or constant. There are strabismus that appear due to stress or fatigue and the deviation of one eye appears and disappears when there is no more stress or fatigue. This type of strabismus is intermittent.
SYMPTOMS
- Double vision: depending on the type of deviation, there are cases in which double vision is permanent and others in which there is only double vision at specific times of the day.
- Visual fatigue: sensation of ocular pain and excessive effort made by the eyes causes eyestrain.
- Loss of binocular vision: when images from both eyes are not received equally, suppression of an image may occur. The brain will only receive an image from one eye only, then, as there is no binocular vision, the perception of the depth of objects and 3D vision is lost.
TREATMENT
⦁ Glasses: strabismus associated with an uncorrected graduation can be reduced by putting the necessary graduation. When you put the graduation that the eye needs, it begins to work and the deviation is reduced. It is a very effective treatment especially in children.
⦁ Patching: is a technique used in children to try to work the eye muscles. It is applied on the non-deflected eye or it can also be alternated as it works both eyes equally.
⦁ Visual therapy: these are visual exercises that also work the eye muscles. It is necessary constancy in the exercises with the optometrist and at home. It is very effective in cases of strabismus generated by lack of correction since together with glasses and exercises usually give very good results in children.
⦁ Medication to relax the muscles in case the strabismus is caused by excessive contraction of the ocular muscle.
⦁ Surgery: surgery is a treatment option for strabismus that causes double vision and has a big desviation.
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