What should I do if my child is born with amblyopia?

Congenital amblyopia is a type of amblyopia with unknown causes, and the occurrence of this condition is related to multiple factors. It may be caused by retinal or optic pathway hemorrhage, nystagmus, etc. in the newborn. The treatment of congenital amblyopia is quite difficult, and some people’s vision is difficult to improve after treatment, but it is not completely untreatable. Today I will share some treatment methods with you, hoping that it will be helpful to you.

Early detection of amblyopia and strabismus is the key to treatment. For strabismic amblyopia in children under 5 years old, better results can be achieved by patching the good eye. Because the good eye is covered, it forces the brain to use the suppressed eye. In the 5 to 9 year age group, treatment effectiveness depends on age, degree of amblyopia, and compliance with treatment. The younger the age, the better the treatment effect.

Even children as young as 10 years old may achieve quite good treatment results. During occlusion therapy, attention must be paid to the condition of the covered eye (good eye) to avoid form deprivation amblyopia caused by occlusion.

For amblyopia caused by refractive error and amblyopia caused by anisometropia, glasses should be worn for correction first. If the difference in binocular vision still exists after 4 to 8 weeks, patch treatment should be performed. For a small number of children who do not respond to these measures, more effective treatments that have been proven in practice should be chosen as soon as possible to avoid lifelong delays.

The most effective way to restore fusion in strabismus is to treat amblyopia and equalize binocular vision. Glasses can treat some esotropia caused by hyperopia and can also reduce the degree of exotropia in myopic people. But sometimes surgery is necessary, especially for congenital esotropia. It should be emphasized that surgery can only change the position of the eyes, but cannot replace the treatment of amblyopia by wearing glasses, patching, and other effective methods.

Amblyopia feels like myopia, but it is a type of myopia that cannot be corrected. If the degree of amblyopia is small, you can see things relatively clearly, but if the degree of amblyopia is large, things will be very blurry when you see them. However, those who are born with amblyopia should not be discouraged. As long as they are guided by the correct treatment methods, they can definitely alleviate the amblyopia.