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ESH #77 | Lazy Eye (Amblyopia)

 

 

Lazy Eye or Amblyopia is an eye condition in which a defect in one eye prevents the eye/brain connection from fully developing that eye. This typically occurs before the age of 7. This causes the individual to suppress the defective eye.

Eye exercise for dominant eyeCauses of Lazy Eye (Amblyopia)

The suppression of one eye is typically due to something that prevents the eye from seeing well such as cataracts, refractive errors (myopia. hyperopia), eyes with a large disparity between the left and right, strabismus and double vision.

Do You Have a Lazy Eye?

Many people spend a large portion of their lives without even realising that  their vision is being effected by a Lazy. A good way to test for Amblyopia  is to hold two fingers up in front of you one close to your nose and the other 12 inches behind it. Look at your closest finger. Do you see two behind it? Now look at the furthest finger do you see two fingers closest to you?

Most people without a lazy eye should see one finger when they look at it and the other should be two. The reason for this is we use two eyes to see, when we focus on an object we fuse the two images of the one object together into one clear image. Everything outside this point of fusion is being seen by the two eyes separately creating two images.

I only see one image but I don’t have Amblyopia?

Due to misuse of the eyes it is common for people without a Lazy eye to not see the double image in the background or foreground when holding up their fingers. This is a form of suppression. Where the brain is favoring one eye over the other but not because of a visual defect as a child. We could call this Lazy Brain, instead of Lazt Eye.

Tip of the Week

In the tip of the week this week we discuss how you can easily  test which eye of yours is the “Strongest” and which eye is the “weakest”.

Did this help? Any Suggestions? Please leave any comments below.

Audio Version

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Responses:

  • James Shaw

    My doctor says that my eyes will never achieve fusion. I am a fifteen year old male looking to strengthen the eye muscles to even out the tension presented to them. I’ve put on the corrective glasses prescribed to me, and my right eye has never strayed. My brain favors my right eye, which is near sighted. And when I’m tired and focus one eye or the other, it flips the other off, sending it a fraction out of the way. Though it’s not noticeable to most people, I just want to be taken seriously. When I was younger I had three corrective surgeries on my eyes, and that set them straight cosmetically. I’ve been making an effort to try to keep the muscles strong and doing the “Pencil Push-up” and Eye Rolling exercises. With one eye flipping on and off, will this eventually cause them both to go outwards, or will the constant switching create balance? When one gets tired, the other becomes in use. I don’t sleep much, due to the watery feeling my eyes get when I’m tired. I apologize for the long explanation, my doctor just doesn’t answer my questions as to why my eyes look worse when I wear Corrective lenses.

    • envision

      Unfortunately, without working with you directly it is difficult to give you the answers you’re looking for. If you’re able to book a private session please contact us via email. If not we recommend gently following the exercises under amblyopia. Try not to forget the importance of resting the eyes with exercises like palming and peripheral vision. Best wishes.

  • James Shaw

    My eyes are straight, but they stray when they’re tired or when I am. I’m just looking for exercises, I just discovered about this a few days before my birthday, and the doctor gave me the Blunt news straight forward.

    • envision

      Try to avoid eyestrain in the first place. Listen to our podcast on eyestrain. Also, try the exercises given under double vision, but don’t forget to work from a place of relaxation so you don’t strain your eyes. Best wishes.

  • Carlos

    69 year old male. Previously had Lasik monovision (left driving eye, right reading eye). Last week had cataract surgery on the right reading eye. This time opted for “distance vision” , so both eyes work the same.

    Such a thrill to have eagle vision again… on what was just a reading eye. Thrilled!!

    Have had extreme, embarrassing Lazy Eye for many years. It’s also very tiring. Hope making both eyes equal for distance will ameliorate this issue.

  • Chris

    I had a lazy eye (squint) as a baby and had an operation to correct it. 18 years later, it’s returned (doctors said that’s normal). I have a question about the “string of beads exercise”, my dominant and strongest eye is my left (evidenced through the fact that this is the eye that I have clear vision in, while my right eye is not only lazy but incredibly blurry) when I do the beads exercise I can see an “X” shape and two strings when I look at it with my left, but can only see one string with my right. Is this normal? Or how can I correct it to get straighter eyes?

    Chris

  • Mohit

    Sir I have amplopyia in my right eye it has 6/12 power with glasses how can I improve it .I am 21 year old

  • Kumuda

    Hi,
    I have been diagnosed with dome shaped macula in my right eye and because of aging (61 yr) I have central serous retinopathy in the same eye. My vision is getting worse, are there any exercises I can do to get rid of the moisture. Also, I had retinal detachment that was fixed using laser in the same eye.
    Thank you,
    Kumuda

    • Will Fuller

      Thank you for your comment. Yes there are exercises which can help but would not be able to give specifics without working with you one to one further. In general, i would recommend plenty of eye relaxation exercises to help bring down any strain that could be impeding progress. Plenty of palming and distance looking will be a great start! 🙂

  • John Jeffrey

    I am nearsighted, age 75 (male). I am interested in scheduling an appointment to evaluate the possibility of improving my vision without the use of eye glasses. Thank you,

    • Will Fuller

      was great to hear how much benefit you got from the online trainings, If you still want an online session head over to the vision improvement coaching tab on this website 🙂

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