Strabismus (Cross-Eyes)

The problem of crossed or wandering eyes is called strabismus (say: "stra-biz-muss"). It's normal for newborn babies to have eyes that cross or wander sometimes, especially when they're tired. However, tell your doctor if you see your child's eyes cross or see one eye wander to the side after 3 months of age, even if it happens only once in a while. You should also tell your doctor if your child often looks at you with one eye closed, or with his or her head turned to one side.

Normal vision needs both eyes to look in the same direction at the same time. When a child has a crossed or wandering eye, he or she gets a different picture from each eye. The child's brain blocks out the picture from the weaker eye. If this problem is not fixed when a child is young, the child's brain will always ignore the pictures from the weak eye. This kind of vision loss is called amblyopia (say: "am-blee-o-pee-ah"). This is the most serious problem caused by crossed or wandering eyes.

Treatment can help your child to have normal vision. The earlier the treatment is started, the better. The goal of treatment is to make the weak or wandering eye do more work and get stronger. Sometimes this means the child has to wear corrective glasses. Or the child might wear a patch on the "good" eye or have drops put in it. This blocks the vision in the stronger eye, which forces the weaker eye to work harder. Your child may not like to have these treatments, because the weak eye doesn't see as well at first as the other eye. Even if your child doesn't want to wear glasses or an eye patch, this treatment is very important. It can help your child see better as a child and as an adult.

Some children need an operation to straighten their eyes. The operation is usually considered after the weak eye has gotten stronger by being used more with the treatments listed above. The surgery is fairly simple, but it doesn't always make the eyes exactly straight. Sometimes it has to be performed again later on.

Since the most important part of treating strabismus is to force the weak eye to work harder, it's very important that you follow the directions the doctor gives you for eye patching or eye drops. Usually the treatment will go on for months or even a few years. Sometimes less patching (or fewer eye drops) will be needed as time goes by. This treatment usually helps make the weak eye as strong as the good eye.

When your child is about 7 or 8 years old, the vision in the weak eye will be as good as it can get with treatment. The earlier treatment starts, the easier it is to fix the problem. So watch for signs that your child doesn't see well, or for eyes that cross or wander apart. If you have any questions, always ask your family doctor.