Discovering Vision Therapy Blog

Our colleague Dr. Dominick Maino posed an interesting question on his blog:  If 33% of patients are strabismus surgery failures, are they suffering a decrease in their quality of life as well?

What’s needed for effective strabismus treatment? The three keys listed in this post are all based on a single premise:  We must get the eyes to both look at the same place in space.

It’s extremely difficult for any parent to think about his or her child going through life with crossed eyes (strabismus).  But in a family’s haste to correct the physical appearance of a child, they might neglect to truly understand the cause of strabismus – a fact which can affect the decision on how to treat it and the child’s long-term vision.

My first inclination, and I think many people would share this sentiment, is to avoid surgical procedures if a non-surgical option for treatment is available.  From infection to complications during the surgery, there are many things that can go wrong when you operate, including when you’re attempting to correct strabismus in children through surgery.

(This is the fourth in a series of posts on strabismus in adults and children.  Be sure to also read:Strabismus in Adults and Children (Part 1 - Definition) and Part 2 - Symptoms and Part 3 - Research)

If you’ve read any of our previous posts (Strabismus in Adults and Children can be Treated - Part 1 and Part 2) on strabismus in adults, you understand that vision therapy is a viable way to improve your impaired visual skills.

The symptoms of strabismus seem fairly obvious:  A person who has one or both eyes turned in toward their nose is “cross-eyed” or esotropic. 

When I was but a wee lad, I remember my older brother crossing his eyes, and shook my head as he ignored the conventional wisdom on strabismus in adults and children and – gasp – crossed his eyes.