—      A squint is present when there is an abnormal deviation of one eye’s line of alignment in relation to the other. Popularly known as ‘lazy eye’ and medically termed ’strabismus’ there are two types - convergent and divergent strabismus.

—      In a convergent squint, the affected eye is directed too far inwards, and in divergent squint the eye is directed outwards.

—      In rare cases, vertical strabismus exists, where one eye is directed either upwards or downwards, compared with the other eye.

—      Squint affects 3 to 5% of the population, and it is the commonest reason for infant and childhood surgery.

—      Most children with squints are otherwise normal, but there is an increased incidence in premature babies and those with cerebral palsy.

—      Many babies develop a squint, because they have not developed the basic ability to align up both eyes when fixing their vision on a single onject. Nevertheless, all children with a squint, no matter how mild, need to be referred to an eye specialist the sooner it is treated the better the outcome. In very rare cases a potentially fatal tumour of childhood, a retinoblastoma, could present as a squint.

—      A younger child with a squint has double vision, and so the brain counteracts this by suppressing the image from the deviating, or ‘out of line eye’. This affected eye loses sharpness of vision, called amblyopia, in an attempt to enhance the sharp image from the good eye. By the age of eight, this system of image suppression is so set that the resultant defect cannot be corrected.

—      In older children longsightedness (hypermetropia), can disturb perfect alignment of the eyes, with one eye attempting to excessively focus on close up objects and so producing inturning of one eye.

—      Children with squints upto about 6yrs are encouraged to wear a patch to cover the normal eye, so that the weak eye is ‘forced to see’ objects. This strenghthens connections between the weaker eye and the brain areas controlling vision. Any remaining deviation of the affected eye can be corrected, if needed, later by surgery or wearing special glasses.

—      Wearing a patch is an effective way of correcting a lazy eye, but try telling the child that! The British Orthoptic Society has started a Patch Club, and all 3,000 children between 1 and 9 who wear patches for ‘lazy eye’ can join and receive all sorts of goodies. Send an A4 sae to Nicky Edwards, Patch Club, ASt. Woolos Hospital, Stow Hill, newport, Gwent NP9 4SZ.

—      Squints in adults may result from strokes, multiple sclerosis, diabetes or over active thyroid disease, and must also be investigated.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This content is from the Dr Chris Steele personal archive and is provided for convenience only. Information contained here may no longer agree with the most up to date medical advice. Please check with a medical professional before taking any action.

Share This