Healthy Living | Fall Issue | 2017 23
to cause amblyopia unless there
are other factors, (see the above
paragraph).
“Eye muscle surgery helps a
“lazy eye”?”
Eye muscle surgeons will tell
parents that if they don’t do eye
muscle surgery then the infant
will get a “lazy eye”. No, in
fact, the opposite is true. The
Cochrane Database (the summary
study of all the studies)
says that eye muscle surgery
can even cause amblyopia. No
eye muscle surgery (and no
other factors) means 0-14% of
infants with infantile strabismus
develop amblyopia. If an
infant has eye muscle surgery
the rate of amblyopia may go
up to 74%. That is a horrible
fact for eye muscle surgery. Eye
muscle surgeons will say that
the muscle is weak. The opposite
is true, eye muscles are the
most innervated muscles in the
human body. The muscles are
not weak, they are not coordinated.
Muscles go where the
brain tells them. Not only does
eye muscle surgery increase the
risk of amblyopia, but surgeons
will freely admit that there may
have to be more surgeries to
“align” the eyes.
“You can’t fix a “lazy eye”
after age X.”
This is old thinking, very old
thinking. Sixty years ago it used
to be said that you can’t fix a
“lazy eye” after age 8, then 40
years ago it was age 12, then 20
years ago it was age 18, now it
is never. Brain plasticity (how
the brain wires/rewires) studies
show that we can improve
a “lazy eye” at any age. Yes, it
takes more work the older you
get, but it can be done.
“Patching helps the “weak”
eye see better.”
Eyes aren’t weak. The brain uses
the information or not. Occlusive
patching (like a black pirate
patch) guarantees that you have
to use the lesser seeing eye, but
it guarantees that you don’t use
both eyes together. Occlusive
patching is the easiest way to
not get results. Most children
will learn to look over, under,
around, or remove that patch
anyhow.
Modern science tells us that
instead of using a pirate (total
occlusion) patch, we should
be using graded, see-through
patches. They are like looking
through thin to thicker cellophane.
You degrade the vision
of the better seeing eye to match
the lesser seeing eye so that the
information going to the brain
matches on both sides. This is
a much better, and easier way
to do it. Orthoptics or “ Vision
Therapy” teaches the brain to
use the information from that
eye more efficiently and effectively
and works on eye muscle
coordination skills. When the
brain is taught to use the information
from that eye, they can
improve quickly and effectively.
If you or a loved one has a
“lazy eye” please feel free to
email questions to drclopton@
drclopton.com.