Many people think that squint is a permanent condition and cannot be corrected. But the truth is that eyes can be straightened at any age.
Commonly known as “Strabismus”, where the eyes are not aligned in the same direction, this can be present only part of the time, in one or alternating between two eyes. The squinting may turn in (converge), turn out (diverge) or sometimes turn up or down.
You might be wondering what causes it- Is it by birth, accidental, hereditary- Our eye expert, Dr. Harsha Vardhan says, it arises due to an incorrect balance of muscles, refractive error, childhood illnesses, nerve palsy and several other reasons.
Childhood Squint:
If the squint is suspected, then it is necessary to evaluate the baby at the earliest. Sometimes a “Pseudo Squint” may be present due to a wide gap between the eyes, flat nose bridge where the eyes do appear misaligned but do not actually have the squint. The causes are:
Congenital Squint– These children are born with a squint though it may not be obvious for few weeks. A strong family history could be present.In all children, the vision and need for spectacles have to be assessed.
Long Sightedness or Hypermetropia- As the child cannot focus well, he has to put extra effort to focus, which can cause a double vision. To avoid this, the image in one eye is suppressed unconsciously and in turn, the child avoids using that eye. If left untreated not only does the eye deviate but also becomes a lazy Eye (Amblyopia).
Symptoms:
Time to See You Eye Specialist
Childhood illnesses
Viral fever, measles, meningitis etc.
Injury to the nerves
Hereditary
Neo Vision Eye Care & Laser centre for Squint eye treatment:
To obtain more precise alignment of your eyes, doctor may use adjustable sutures (stitches). This allows your eye alignment to be adjusted after surgery. If adjustable sutures are used, surgery is performed in two stages.
Stage one involves re-positioning one or more of the eye muscles with “slipknot” or “bow-tie”sutures. In stage two (usually performed immediately after you wake up from general anesthesia), using anesthetic eye-drops, the sutures are untied and retied to fine-tune the alignment. In many cases, no adjustment is needed and the slip knot or bow-tie sutures are converted to standard knots.or a consultation.
Squint surgery is usually performed on an outpatient basis using general or local anesthesia. Patients may experience some pain or discomfort after surgery, but it is usually not severe and can be treated with over-the-counter pain medication such as panadol or paracetomaol. Stronger medications for pain, such as codeine or hydroquinone, are sometimes needed and will be prescribed by your ophthalmologist or anesthetist. You can often return to your normal activities within a few days. More than one surgery may be needed to treat this condition depending on the severity of the case.
About Dr V Praneeth (MBBS DNB FAEH) Medical Director, Consultant Cornea, Cataract & Refractive surgeon Dr. Praneeth Vaddadi completed his basic medical education from Kakatiya Medical College, Warangal. He then