Strabismus

What Is Strabismus?

Strabismus, more commonly referred to as crossed eyes, is a condition characterized by the misalignment of your eyes. Your eyes don’t line up as expected. In fact, they point in different directions. Each eye has six muscles that control its movement, and your brain controls these muscles. To accurately focus on an image, the muscles must work together. If the muscles don’t work as they should, it may lead to crossed eyes, which affects proper vision.

Crossed eyes disorder affects vision because the brain receives two images at the same time. In a child, the brain learns to ignore the image from the misaligned eye, but as a result, the child experiences poor depth perception. For an adult, the normal eye becomes dominant and has normal vision strength. The misaligned eye then suffers poor vision.

Early diagnosis of strabismus improves the effectiveness of the treatment. The experienced eye specialists at Vitreous Retina Macula Consultants of New York (VRMNY) effectively treat the eye disorder both in children and adults. The eye doctors use a combination of advanced in-office procedures, medications and surgery to treat a broad range of eye disorders.

What Are the Different Types of Strabismus?

Doctors classify strabismus based on the direction of the eye misalignment. Categories of strabismus include:

• Esotropia. A type of eye misalignment in which one or both eyes turn inward. This eye misalignment is most common in infants, but can occur at any age.
• Exotropia. Another common type of strabismus that causes one or both eyes to turn Exotropia is the most common form of ocular misalignment during early stages of childhood.
• Hypertropia. One eye focuses correctly, but the other turns upward. A major complication of hypertropia is amblyopia or lazy eye.
• Hypotropia. In this condition, one eye turns downward. The condition may be present at birth, but also can develop later in life.

Any form of strabismus affects your vision and negatively impacts your self-image. Your eye doctor at VRMNY — with offices in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Westchester — evaluates your eyes and creates an individualized treatment plan. By leveraging the latest eye treatment technologies, your expert ophthalmologist correctly diagnoses your eye disorder to create a successful treatment plan.

What Causes Strabismus?

Strabismus eye disorder occurs when there’s a problem with the muscles controlling your eye movements. Any abnormality in the neuromuscular control of your eye movement can lead to eye misalignment. In children, strabismus has no known cause. Children from a family with a history of eye misalignment are at a higher risk of the eye condition. Some conditions associated with eye misalignment include:

• Uncorrected refractive errors. People with refractive errors, including myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism and anisometropia are at a higher risk of
• Disorders in children. Childhood disorders that affect the brain can lead to Such conditions include Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, hydrocephalus and brain tumors.
• Stroke in adults. Stroke is among one of the leading causes of eye misalignment in adults.
• Head injuries can cause brain damage in the area responsible for eye movement. Trauma can also affect the nerves that control your eye muscles and eye movement.
• Adult disorders. Conditions such as Graves’ disease, which is a thyroid eye disorder, can cause eye misalignment.
• Neurological problems in adults. Any neurological disorder in adults can affect eye movement and eye muscles.
• Loss of vision. If you lose vision in one eye, the damage can extend to the muscles controlling its movements. The damaged eye might eventually become misaligned.

Through advanced diagnostic imaging and other tests, your eye doctor identifies the cause of your eye misalignment. The diagnosis helps the doctor create a tailored treatment plan suited for your type of eye misalignment.

How Is Strabismus Treated?

Strabismus treatment starts with a consultation at your NYC ophthalmologist’s office. The doctor examines your eyes and carries out vision tests. Effective options available for the treatment of crossed eyes include:

• Eyeglasses may be all you need to treat mild strabismus.
• Eye patch. If your child has amblyopia, wearing an eye patch strengthens the weaker eye.
• Strabismus surgery in toddlers. The surgery tightens the weak eye muscles. The eye doctor may also loosen the stronger muscles to correct the eyes’ alignment.
• Cross eye correction surgery. Surgery is the most effective treatment for misaligned eyes in adults. Strabismus eye surgery for adults helps improve vision and aligns your eyes, which improves your vision and boosts your self-image. Strabismus surgery is a long-term solution that your NYC doctors recommend to treat different types of eye misalignments.
• Eye exercises. Eye exercises, called orthoptics, can help with such eye misalignments as convergence insufficiency to get your eyes to better work together.
• An eye doctor can use medications or Botox injections to weaken overactive eye muscles. The treatment helps balance eye muscle reactions for proper alignment.

After your diagnosis, the eye specialist may choose a single or multi-faceted treatment plan. The eye doctors at the New York City eye facility use the best treatment plan, including conservative treatments and cross eye correction surgery for the best outcomes.

If you notice eye misalignment in your child or if you have the problem, consult an experienced eye specialist for effective treatment. The eye specialists at Vitreous Retina Macula Consultants of New York are highly trained in diverse eye treatments, such as cross eye correction surgery, lazy eye strabismus surgery and bilateral strabismus surgery. Contact the best eye doctors today for effective eye treatment.