Any One Have a Child with Strabismus or Wandering Eyes?

My son developed this problem when he was 11 due to some medications he was taking. We tried vision therapy for half a year without success and then went to a well-respected pediatric opthalmologist in Durham. He had the surgery two years ago and is doing fine.

Some children can improve with therapy, but there are cases that can be repaired only by surgery, so don't rule out either one.

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B.,

From what I hear from being in the medical field the therapy can help alot. I would try the vision therapy before doing the surgery. I have heard alot of success on the vision therapy. I am not sure where you live but there is a specialist in Cary, NC that if Im not mistaken deals with alot of these types of eye problems in children. I hope that I have been of some encouragement for you. If you are somewhat local and want the name of this specialist shoot me an email. ____@____.com

thanks,
Kim
morrisville fire

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Hi B.,

First of all, I'm so sorry. My son was diagnosed at 2 with strabismus as well, and I can tell you it is a long road. He is now 8 and if I could go back in time, I would. He had surgery after patching for 3 years and the surgery was a complete waste. It is really awful to put a 5 year old through that all for nothing. He is now in vision therapy and it would be going better if he didn't have so much scar tissue from the surgery. So, here's my advice: First of all do the research and find the best ped. opthalm. you can. Find a conservative one as many of them are chop shops who just want to operate. There is patching and something called prism therapy I wish we would have done. For some kids, the patching works. Beyond that I would highly recommend therapy but not until he's 4 or older as it's hard to get worth while therapy from a 2-3 year old. We currently go to Dr. Genia Beasley on Pineville Matthews Road in south Charlotte and they are great. You see, for most kids it's not a problem with the eye, but a problem with the brain communicating with the eye and telling it where to move. When you operate, you shorten eye muscle which pulls the eye back to where it should be. However, in about 3 weeks, the brain is still controlling the eye and will go right back to where it was. The only time surgery works is when the eye muscles really are weak, which is in about less than 1% of patients from what I understand. I guess there are way more muscles in the eye than it actually needs so it's extremely rare. So, please, don't do surgery unless you have the recommendation from about 10 different doctors all agreeing that his eye muscles are weak. Therapy works, but it is slow and hard to do. My son works very hard on it and is making improvements, but it takes time. It's a long road. Best of luck.
T.

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I have had that same problem with myself since I was born. When I was a kid, they waited until I was @ 12 to put a patch over my eye to try to correct it, but I was too old by then. What it is, is that the muscles are weak in his eye, and they can't effectively hold it in the focusing position. If your son is anything like me, he will learn to compensate with the other eye. My advice is since he is still little, try having a patch put over the good eye until the weak eye strengthens.

If that doesn't work, then surgery may be a good option for him. It is cosmetic (I had it done at 23 years old) but it will also improve his vision. It may help him more now and in the long run if you do that when he is younger. I hope all of what I said makes sense...

Mornin' B.,

My stepdaughter had that as well as my husband when he was a child. Both had vision "therapy" and it corrected the problem. I am a Registered Nurse/Surgical Nurse/Certified Plastic Surgery Nurse and I think you should ALWAYS try anything short of surgery FIRST! Especially with children. Granted, surgery is VERY SAFE NOW EVEN FOR KIDS, but one should always try other options.

Also, my 2 year-old has that problem just a bit-not as much as it sounds like your son has- and my son's vision doesn't seem to be affected so it is easy for me to say wait and try other things. But at least, GET A 2ND-EVEN 3RD-OPINION! I'm in the medical profession and I know how important other opinions can be.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

P.S. If you and your family decide to opt for surgery for your little tyke, remember this (from a surgical nurse who works with kids quite a lot): children are very resilient and do very well with surgery and recovery! It is usually much harder on the parents than the children. And, the nurses at the hospital are there for you but much more for your child-they may do things that seem odd to you, like whisk your child away from you quickly to take him to the operating room. They do these things so it is a good experience for your child. Be patient with them-they know what they're doing (especially at our local children's hospital!)

My sister acutallly had this or something like it when she was younger. Her eye didn't wander a whole lot so you could hardly tell unless you were staring at her.
When he schoolwork started to suffer my mom took her to the dr who said she had double vision along with the wandering eye. I can't imagine how she felt when she was younger, not knowing that not everyone saw that way. It was also a reason that she didn't read books. I'm not sure of her age when she first had this, but I do know that at the age of 12 she had surgery, she is now 27.
She from as far back as I could remember always tilted her head to the side to look at things, as if she were holding a phone with her shoulder.
I don't remember how long it took her to recover, but I do know that she stopped having to tilt her head to look at things and was able to read books without getting a headache.
You might want to have the doctor examine it a little deeper, to see if surgery would be the best thing.
Otherwise, like my mother, you won't know something is horribly wrong until your son starts to suffer with schoolwork.

I had corrective eye surgery when I was 4 for the same time. My recovery time was minimal and I've never had any problems. I'm 30 now. I did some research when I was in my early 20's and at that time, the earlier you had the surgery, the better your chances were for recovery and positive out come of the surgery. I think as you get older it is not as easy to correct. I do remember being little and children making fun of me and asking my mom what was wrong with me. It was worth it to me, so I would not have to endure those childhood cruelties. Hope this helps. D.

Hi B.. My 10 month old child has yet been diagnoised (?) with her vision impairment however, her left appears to wander while the right eye stays focused. We know she can see but how well we are not quite sure. We see a doctor at MUSC downtown Charleston, SC (in case you are not in the area). Anyhow, we have another appointment in November but in the meantime we have person from the School for the Deaf and Blind that comes to the house and works with her. She is great! How this works is that you can get a referral to BabyNet which is a SC funded problem that can provide "therapy" to your child. A case worker evaluates and determines what your child needs. This therapy is free since it is through the state. Also, keep in mind that any other therapy that your child will need is usually paid through BabyNet. If you live in the area or live in SC, ask your eye doctor or pediatrican. And another thing, if you do plan to see a doctor at MUSC, Dr. Wilson is the department head. I highly recommend him veruses another doctor (Dr. Peterseim) on staff. I wish you the best and I hope this helps!

B., I have a daughter who is about to turn 2 and her eyes wander as well. Her eye doctor has prescribed a eye drop that will blur her vision in the eye that does not wander so her other eye will have to focus. She only has to do it once a week and it is supposed to help her muscles strenghten. He also suggested a patch over her eye but she kept pulling that off. He just prescribed these drops today and I will be trying them on Thursday. I will let you know how it goes. But it might be worth a shot if the doc feels it is muscular. A.

I work as an optometric assistant and have done vision therapy in the past. He is way too young to benefit from therapy right now. It is best to take the Dr's advice and you might even get a second opinion. There is a WONDERFUL pediactric opthamologist in Birmingham named Dr. Elsas. He is one of the best in the country, and I think he may even come to Huntsville to see patients...
When dealing with the eyes it is best to err on the side of caution, you don't want him to end up with amblyopia, or vision out of only 1 eye.

I'm 51 years old. When I look to the left, my right eye wanders upwards. It's done this for as long as I can remember.
(It makes merging onto a highway rather tedious, since I have to shut that eye, thus losing depth perception.)

I also have a friend with very severe strabismus. His eyes literally vibrate when he looks at me. It took me a while to get used to that. I don't know how he manages to read/focus, but he's an architect now. He said his daughter had it when she was born, and she had the surgery for it, so she wouldn't have to deal with it the way he did in school, with kids tormenting him.

There are different types of strabismus. As the others wrote, you need to take your child to a specialist (or two) and find out what your options really are.

You will get pros and cons from many people. With ANY surgery there are risks. Do what YOU feel is right. Hugs.

i babysit a little girl who has that problem,she has been in glasses for the last 8 months and it has made a big difference,if at all possible try the glasses route

My husband had this as a child and had this successfully repaired. There is no evidence, I can see, of strabismus in him anymore. My son (4 months old) appears to have this but very mild right now. Our ped. just referred us to a pediatric opthamologist and we need to make an appointment for a diagnosis. I know from my husband's standpoint, if our son has this problem, he would get the surgery even if it is only cosmetic. Since my husband is now 38 and had the surgery about 30 years ago, I would say it was a success and has helped him to lead a normal life. Good luck and hope everything works out!

MY SON HAD A SLEEPY EYE AND RECIEVED EYE SURGERY. IT'S BEEN TWO YEARS AND YOU CAN'T TELL HE HAD SURGERY. NOW HE WEARS A PATCH OVER THE WEAKER EYE FOR TWO HOURS A DAY BECAUSE IT STARTED DROOPING A LITTLE BIT. YOUR SON WILL BE ALRIGHT, IT'LL DO HIM RIGHT IN THE LONG RUN.

Hi! I am 26 and I had wandering eye. they called mine Lazy eye. It was fixed with glasses. I am also extremely far sighted, and have a slight stigmitism. All corrected with glasses.

B., I worked for a Louisiana Pediatric Ophthalmologist for two years. When an eye turns outward the condition is known as exotropia. The surgical procedure done to tighten eye muscles is extremely common and often very successful after just one surgery. However, some children with more severe cases will need more than one surgery to correct the problem. Muscle surgeries are more successful if done before the age of nine. If you feel pressured by your doctor, get a second opinion from a pediatric specialist. Good luck.
W. G.