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teachingmom
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| Posted: Sept 18 2005 at 12:55am | IP Logged
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I hope some of you can help me with information. I am worried that my 2.5 yo has a lazy eye. (I am sure there is a more accurate medical term for it, but I don't know it.) This morning I called her name from across the room to tell her something. As she looked at me while I was speaking, I noticed that her left eye was drifting toward her nose. I tested her later in the day and it happened a few more times. I am not seeing it all the time. But the fact that it is noticeable concerns me.
The strangest thing is that this problem came up overnight. Literally! Neither I, nor my husband, nor our other children, nor our closest friend who sees our toddler almost daily has ever noticed this before. When I think about it, I believe that dd has let me know that her eyes hurt recently. I thought she was just tired at the time.
My husband had this problem as a young child. He needed surgery and had to wear a patch for awhile. Do any of you have experience with this? Do you know if it is an inherited trait? Do they still do surgery for this? I am trying not to worry too much until I take her to a doctor. But it is still upsetting to find a problem like this suddenly when there wasn't one yesterday! I'd appreciate prayers for healing for dd's eyes.
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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Erin
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| Posted: Sept 18 2005 at 2:34am | IP Logged
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Irene,
My friend's son 8, has a lazy eye. For the last few years he has worn glasses in an attempt to correct the problem. Although they were told it wouldn't necessarily.
To date there has been no improvement so she has decided to take off the glasses and is looking at alternative routes. She is looking at correcting it with eye exercises. I can ask her the name of the program she is using if you would like.
I'll keep you in my prayers.
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Erin
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cathhomeschool
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| Posted: Sept 18 2005 at 7:52am | IP Logged
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I had a lazy eye (right eye) as a child too, and needed surgery (after no improvement w/ patches and eye excercises). The surgery did help, but didn't completely correct the problem. My eyes (left and right) still drift when I'm really tired, and I can make them drift on demand.
I haven't done any research, but do wonder if it is hereditary. My 3yo's eye drifts when he first wakes up, but the pediatrician can't get it to drift on demand, so he's not sure what to think. (Usually if you have lazy eye, they can make your eye drift.) We are going to take him to a specialist in Houston. And just yesterday my 4yo looked at me and one of his eyes had drifted. His eyes had always been fine until now. Not sure if that was random or what. Neither of them has ever complained about pain. I know that when my eyes drift, it does hurt a little.
I think that they do still do surgery, but my mother seems to think that the earlier it's caught, the better. Mine was not discovered so early. We'll pray for your little girl!
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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Donna
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| Posted: Sept 18 2005 at 8:13am | IP Logged
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Irene,
My son, Aaron who is 6, had trouble with his right eye. Our eye doctor told me to do exercises EVERY day with him and to return in a couple of weeks. Well...we did and when I took him back to the doc, Aaron's eye improved tremendously. The key was being faithful to do the exercises EVERY day. The doctor told me that many children do not do well because the parents often forget to do the exercises faithfully. Some do not even return for the 6 week appointment and their children often need surgery to correct the problem. I know that not all children have the same level of severity....but hopefully you'll be able to correct the lazy eye through exercises.
Aaron and I will say prayers for your daughter  .
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Donna
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Meredith
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| Posted: Sept 18 2005 at 10:15am | IP Logged
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Hi Irene, both my older children have dealt with lazy eye for different eye issues, but it started much like you described. My oldest dd started patching and wearing glasses at age 5 and my ds when he was 3 and still is working on patching and will probably wear glasses for most of his elementary years. My daughter's issues are different and she has not patched since she was 5 1/2 and may grow out of her need to wear glasses full time.
First of all, don't panic, it's not uncommon at all and doesn't always mean surgergy (this has NEVER been recomended to us) and I would advise trying to seek out a pediatric opthamologist if you can. Our prayers are with you and your little one, we have a great devotion to Saint Lucy here. Will add your dd to our prayers to her. Take care.
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Meredith
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teachingmom
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| Posted: Sept 18 2005 at 1:56pm | IP Logged
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Thanks to all of you who responded to my question. I really appreciate hearing your stories. I was wondering if maybe there would be some sort of exercises or therapy that we could do at home. Janette, your story makes me really wonder if there is something hereditary about it . . . .
happyheartsmom wrote:
| First of all, don't panic, it's not uncommon at all and doesn't always mean surgergy (this has NEVER been recomended to us) and I would advise trying to seek out a pediatric opthamologist if you can. Our prayers are with you and your little one, we have a great devotion to Saint Lucy here. Will add your dd to our prayers to her. Take care. |
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Well, it has been occurring for the second day in a row now, so I was beginning to experience feelings of panic, so I am thankful for your reminder that I don't need to think about surgery at all for now. And I hadn't yet thought of the St. Lucy connection, so thanks for mentioning her too.
It really is a blessing to have a group like you all to turn to with questions like this. With all the moms with varied backgrounds and experiences, I'm sure to find someone who can provide the information needed.
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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cathhomeschool
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| Posted: Sept 21 2005 at 10:11am | IP Logged
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Irene, my parents did do eye exercises with me at home to strengthen those muscles. (like drawing a popsicle stick closer and further from my nose while I stared at it) I actually have fond memories of the exercises and dr. appointments, because the doctor's office was at the top of a sky scraper in downtown Houston, and the popsicle sticks had cute puffy stickers with googly eyes on them.
I intend on asking the doctor about the heredity issue when we go.
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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ALmom
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| Posted: Sept 21 2005 at 1:52pm | IP Logged
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Irene,
I don't know if lazy eye is technically considered a hereditary condition or not. It certainly seems to run in our family - great grandmother, mom, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. It is technically known as amblyopia and is generally diagnosed because of lost acuity in the affected eye. Obviosly, the child is not using the affected eye - thus the patching to try and get the eye used.
Strabismus is the drifting of one eye. You sometimes see this drifting when there is amblyopia present and sometimes when it is not. There are a variety of options for treatment and a lot depends on which kind of eye doctor you go to.
Amblyopia is frequently treated with patching, glasses, etc. to attempt to strengthen the weak eye. Many of my aunts and cousins and my mom all had amblyopia as a young child, had it treated sometime before or around age 6 by these means and now have no or very little useable vision in that eye. If vastly different acuity is what caused the amblyopia, then patching and glasses can provide a permanent cure. If there is something else underlying the problem, then obviously that must be corrected along with the other.
Strabismus - the eye drifting condition is often treated surgically, but does not have to be. There are optometrists that work with correcting strabismus and other vision type problems with exercises to strengthen the 6 muscles that point the eye. Looking for an optometrist with a vision therapist in office and with extensive practice with a wide variety of vision problems related to learning will more likely get you someone willing to work non-surgically to correct strabismus. These have been quite successful, but may be viewed as controversial by some MDs. If you get recommendations for treatment for which you are uncomfortable, seek a second, third or fourth opinion. Ask for studies and explanations and don't be afraid to gather information.
Our daughter, technically did not have either amblyopia or strabismus (I saw her eye drift, but since it didn't drift consistently for someone else to see it in an eye exam and not consistently enough, surgery wasn't even an option for us even if we had wanted it). She actually would use one eye at a time (as an amblyopic person does) but it was never the same eye she wasn't using so she never lost acuity. Relatives who had had amblyopia in their family noticed the eye and would comment that she never seemed to be looking at you when she spoke to you, but for some reason most of the eye doctors we went to never noticed anything wrong with her eyes.
The best thing you can do is find a good doctor, to help you work on correcting whatever the vision difficulties may be. It is easier to correct at a young age, but it is no longer true that amblyopia cannot be corrected after a certain age. The optometrist that treats our dc helped one high school graduate get into West Point by correcting his amblyopia at this late point. (The young man had been accepted except that he failed his vision screening due to amblyopia they thought had been corrected as a child).
Hope this helps.
Janet
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humanaevitae
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| Posted: Sept 21 2005 at 10:38pm | IP Logged
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My husband has strabismus (lazy eye) and we have been told it is hereditary. However none of our 4 children have it. As a person and as a Dr., Dh has been very adament about recommending people seek medical advice from a Pediatric Opthamologist as soon as possible. Yes-prognosis is much better the younger you are. Lately Dh has been having more problems (blurring) so has started doing different excercises with prisms. Even at 30, these excercises should help a little.
A PO is really the best person to check your child's vision. It would be sad to find out when the child was 10 that he did indeed have lazy eye but that the Pediatrician missed it.
Praying,
Nicole
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4Real Forums : Our Lady of Good Remedy and Care
Topic: Question on a possible "lazy eye"
