Amblyopia – “lazy eye” is a decrease in visual acuity without organic changes in the tissues of the eye. The peculiarity of this disease is that visual acuity cannot be restored with the help of lenses and optical glasses.
A healthy person sees binocularly. Binocular means that the “picture” seen by both eyes is represented in the brain as one common “three-dimensional picture”. With the development of amblyopia, the visual acuity of one side decreases and the “single image” formed in the human brain is disturbed. Therefore, the brain receives only a “picture” of a healthy eye, and the activity of the diseased eye gradually decreases.
Causes and types of amblyopia:
- Strabismus is one of the most common causes. The other eye is usually not involved in vision and causes amblyopia. This type is called dysbinocular amblyopia.
- Amblyopia caused by a high degree of myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. This type is called refractive amblyopia.
- Anisometropic amblyopia – the difference between the visual acuity of the two eyes is more than 3 diopters.
- Obstructive amblyopia – diseases in which vision is impaired in one eye. These include cataracts, post-traumatic scarring, ophthalmoplegia (damage to the muscles that move the eye), miosis (pupil constriction), and ptosis (drooping of the upper eyelid).
- Hysterical amblyopia is the only reversible type of amblyopia that occurs with a strong emotional state.
Signs:
- In many cases, a person does not know that he has such a disease. Sometimes he accidentally notices that both eyes see differently.
- It is difficult for patients to navigate in unfamiliar and unusual places. Therefore, they hit various objects, stumble or fall.
- When watching TV and reading a book, the patient closes one eye.
- Children turn their whole body or head to look at an object of interest to them.
- Quick onset headaches and fatigue from activities that strain the eyes, such as reading, sewing, or knitting.
