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Suggest Treatment For Amblyopia In A Teenager
Question: can "lazy eye" appear in teens? My son is 15 and my wife and I have noticed recently that his left eye has wandered to the outer side slightly. I look at pictures of him 4 years ago and don't see it. Is this something serious? I know children can get these things, his twin sister has cerebral palsey and has had 3 surgeries for lazy eye, but can it show up later in life and not be serious?
Brief Answer:
Yes it can appear at teenage but he needs evaluation by an Ophthalmologist!
Detailed Answer:
Warm Welcomes. I appreciate your trust in HCM and assure you are on best portal on the globe for expert online medical services.
I have thoroughly reviewed health query you raised, and well realize all of those concerns. Being your physician, I will take care all of them today and will extend my expertise to solve the problems.
Yes it can happen in that age too. I want to start with the wrong notion attached to the Lazy eye (Amblyopia) that it is the age limit of 7 years when we can treat it (no good results after that)----All of this wrong.
I have seen clinically that "Patching and Atropine" are good treatment options at the age of your son (15 years). Consult his Ophthalmologist regarding the treatment options for him. Treatment may take 5-6 months to 2 years depending on the improvements and effectiveness.
Yes, it is serious in a way that you need to follow it up seriously. I appreciate that you already have set an appointment for your son. Thorough evaluation is needed in this case, especially as it has evolved recently. If we see it at the large population size, there is no permanent disability caused by amblyopia and patients spend their life as normal as non-patients do. There is no issue that may bother in future.
Regarding Prognosis and your question on if it will show up later in life:
It is an important aspect that this disease can recur even after complete restoration of Vision (visual acuity). It is seen that one fourth of the patients treated for Lazy eye, suffer recurrence within 1st year of stopping treatment. But, fortunately, they all get better once they restart the same treatment and their vision also gets better.
Hope I addressed all the concerns you have. Let me know if you have further questions. I will be more than happy to clear any . For any disease you have, a timely follow-up is necessary regarding the treatment efficacy and to see if there is a need to change treatment options. So keep a follow up to see how you doing (Always write down my name in start of your questions at this forum & I will be with you in no time).
Regards!
DR. HANIF
USA
Yes it can appear at teenage but he needs evaluation by an Ophthalmologist!
Detailed Answer:
Warm Welcomes. I appreciate your trust in HCM and assure you are on best portal on the globe for expert online medical services.
I have thoroughly reviewed health query you raised, and well realize all of those concerns. Being your physician, I will take care all of them today and will extend my expertise to solve the problems.
Yes it can happen in that age too. I want to start with the wrong notion attached to the Lazy eye (Amblyopia) that it is the age limit of 7 years when we can treat it (no good results after that)----All of this wrong.
I have seen clinically that "Patching and Atropine" are good treatment options at the age of your son (15 years). Consult his Ophthalmologist regarding the treatment options for him. Treatment may take 5-6 months to 2 years depending on the improvements and effectiveness.
Yes, it is serious in a way that you need to follow it up seriously. I appreciate that you already have set an appointment for your son. Thorough evaluation is needed in this case, especially as it has evolved recently. If we see it at the large population size, there is no permanent disability caused by amblyopia and patients spend their life as normal as non-patients do. There is no issue that may bother in future.
Regarding Prognosis and your question on if it will show up later in life:
It is an important aspect that this disease can recur even after complete restoration of Vision (visual acuity). It is seen that one fourth of the patients treated for Lazy eye, suffer recurrence within 1st year of stopping treatment. But, fortunately, they all get better once they restart the same treatment and their vision also gets better.
Hope I addressed all the concerns you have. Let me know if you have further questions. I will be more than happy to clear any . For any disease you have, a timely follow-up is necessary regarding the treatment efficacy and to see if there is a need to change treatment options. So keep a follow up to see how you doing (Always write down my name in start of your questions at this forum & I will be with you in no time).
Regards!
DR. HANIF
USA
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Arnab Banerjee
Thank you for your answer. I do have 2 follow up questions though. When I say is it serious I mean is there more of a chance it could be due to an aneurysm, or tumor, since it showed up later in life? Also, it is a slight wander, if it's there. some pictures seem to have the deviation and in some pictures the eyes look straight. the same when you look directly at him, most of the time the look fine and then others the left eye seems off. Is it possible that it comes and goes, and if so, what does that mean?
Brief Answer:
No, it is not a tumor or aneurysm in the first place !!!
Detailed Answer:
I welcome you with a smile to answer your health concerns in detail. Of course you have free follow ups and I am glad to entertain as many follow ups as you want. I will not close the discussion asn will leave this to you. When satisfied, you may close it anytime.
Actually you are asking the things in detail so I will try to remain as simple as I can but will elaborate the things for your kind assistance.
There are two very closely linked conditions of the eye :
1. One is Strabismus (crossed eyes).
2. Other is Amblyopia (Lazy eye) as your son has.
DETAILS OF THE TWO CONDITIONS AND THEIR CORRELATION:-
STRABISMUS: In which one eye doesn't look in the same direction as the other eye and they send different images to the brain. Brain get confused with this issue. Brain then decides by itself and starts to ignore one eye's image with passage of time. Strabismus is caused by weakness of the muscles that move eyes. Over time Strabismus (crossed eyes) leads to be the reason for LAZY EYES or AMBLYOPIA: that is actually the abnormal alignment of the eyes . That is what seems to be with your son as a reason for late evolution of Lazy eyes. Other causes of AMBLYOPIA may be unequal focus between the eyes; Structural anomaly of the eye obscuring the incoming images that are destined to be sent to brain for perception.
In the beginning Lazy eye may be negligibly mild but with time it may progress if muscle go on getting weak and brain differentiates more clearly one out of the two separate images of both eyes. Brain kicks one eye off of the scene of focus in fact.
In picture you see difference of the eye movements. This is because time matters when the picture is taken. In his early age, if you had taken a picture in the morning when the eyes are not so tired, there will be less strabismus and lazy eye phenomenon. If you take a picture in the evening after a busy day for eyes, then the symptoms will be more pronounced.
Hope I addressed all the concerns you have. Let me know if you have further questions. I will be more than happy to clear any doubts. Please give your 'rating' (if agreed, Five Stars) to help me assist patients in a better way; and, please don't forget to click on 'Close The Discussion'.
For any disease you have, a timely follow-up is necessary regarding the treatment efficacy and to see if there is a need to change treatment options. So keep a follow up to see how you doing (Always write down my name in start of your questions at this forum & I will be with you in no time).
Regards!
DR. HANIF
USA
No, it is not a tumor or aneurysm in the first place !!!
Detailed Answer:
I welcome you with a smile to answer your health concerns in detail. Of course you have free follow ups and I am glad to entertain as many follow ups as you want. I will not close the discussion asn will leave this to you. When satisfied, you may close it anytime.
Actually you are asking the things in detail so I will try to remain as simple as I can but will elaborate the things for your kind assistance.
There are two very closely linked conditions of the eye :
1. One is Strabismus (crossed eyes).
2. Other is Amblyopia (Lazy eye) as your son has.
DETAILS OF THE TWO CONDITIONS AND THEIR CORRELATION:-
STRABISMUS: In which one eye doesn't look in the same direction as the other eye and they send different images to the brain. Brain get confused with this issue. Brain then decides by itself and starts to ignore one eye's image with passage of time. Strabismus is caused by weakness of the muscles that move eyes. Over time Strabismus (crossed eyes) leads to be the reason for LAZY EYES or AMBLYOPIA: that is actually the abnormal alignment of the eyes . That is what seems to be with your son as a reason for late evolution of Lazy eyes. Other causes of AMBLYOPIA may be unequal focus between the eyes; Structural anomaly of the eye obscuring the incoming images that are destined to be sent to brain for perception.
In the beginning Lazy eye may be negligibly mild but with time it may progress if muscle go on getting weak and brain differentiates more clearly one out of the two separate images of both eyes. Brain kicks one eye off of the scene of focus in fact.
In picture you see difference of the eye movements. This is because time matters when the picture is taken. In his early age, if you had taken a picture in the morning when the eyes are not so tired, there will be less strabismus and lazy eye phenomenon. If you take a picture in the evening after a busy day for eyes, then the symptoms will be more pronounced.
Hope I addressed all the concerns you have. Let me know if you have further questions. I will be more than happy to clear any doubts. Please give your 'rating' (if agreed, Five Stars) to help me assist patients in a better way; and, please don't forget to click on 'Close The Discussion'.
For any disease you have, a timely follow-up is necessary regarding the treatment efficacy and to see if there is a need to change treatment options. So keep a follow up to see how you doing (Always write down my name in start of your questions at this forum & I will be with you in no time).
Regards!
DR. HANIF
USA
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Arnab Banerjee
Answered by
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