Types of Eye Problems

Lazy eye

Since birth, a child’s brain is trained to use the images received from both eyes fused into a single image. However in some infants, one eye may not be able to see as clearly as the other; hence, the brain does not get a clear image. Because the infant cannot express this problem to the parents, the brain simply stops receiving the blurry image and only uses the eye with the clear image – putting excessive strain on it. This is called refractive amblyopia, commonly known as ‘lazy eye’ - and can be corrected either by patching the good eye and forcing the nerves in the blurred eye to work harder, or through lenses and glasses to help the blurry eye work at par with the good one. Since a growing child’s body is already adjusting to so many changes, these kinds of problems are easiest to correct, because if forced to work, the body is capable of ‘self healing’.

Crossed eyes

Another type of lazy eye usually develops in children at two years of age but can occur up to six years. This condition, called strabismus, is also referred to as crossed or wandering eye. It occurs when the two eyes cannot be aligned properly by the brain. This results in double vision which causes the brain to turn-off the vision from the misaligned eye, so the child only sees from the straight eye while the wandering eye does not get a chance to develop. This type of problem is slightly more serious and can only be corrected either through vision therapy or by surgery.

Convergence insufficiency

Convergence insufficiency is a common childhood vision problem that can make reading and staying on task difficult for school-aged children.  Convergence insufficiency is caused by poor eye coordination that does not allow the eyes to work together, especially when viewing small images such as print.  This kind of vision problem creates eyestrain, fatigue, headaches, and sometimes blurred or double vision during reading, making comprehension skills weak.

Unfortunately, convergence insufficiency remains undiagnosed.  School vision screening can't check for it, and it is often missed in routine eye exams. It can only be diagnosed by an eye doctor trained to run specific tests.  Some doctors will recommend home exercises or computer software programs to try to correct the problem; while others will prescribe special prism glasses.