Crossed Eyes Delay Can Be Dangerous

Crossed eye and Squinty! From time immemorial this description has been mistakenly credited to a negative character - that of a dishonest greedy, wicked and evil person. Hollywood have used these traits to depict negative characters and have probably helped to spread this misconception. However, being cross-eyed and squinty is just another medical condition and the science of ophthalmology has solutions for it - removing squint, balancing the eyes and their eyesight and bringing beauty back to the face.

A squint or strabismus (crossed eyes) is a condition in which both eyes are relatively misaligned and point in different directions. One eyes looks in the desired direction, whereas the other eye is aligned inwards, outwards, upwards or downwards. It is more common in children than adults. A constant squint in a child can give rise to a lazy eyes (amblyopia) or poor depth perception (stereopsis) or poor uniocular vision or abnormal head posture or a combination of any of these. The ability to appreciate depth develops in early childhood and hence a squint should be treated as early as possible for a better vision in adulthood.

The treatment for squint is not always surgery. A few squints can be treated with glasses alone. Surgery is required when the misaligned eyes cannot be completely corrected with glasses. When lazy eye exits along with a squint, the lazy eye is treated first by applying a patch to close the normal eye, stimulating the lazy eye to see. This is done along with correction of co-existing refractive error with appropriate glasses. The earlier the treatment is started, better are the results. After the age of 6-7 years, 'patch therapy' is usually ineffective.

Take for instance the case of Mary who had inward deviation of the left eye since childhood but was brought for treatment by her parents only when she was seventeen. It came to them as a shock that her left eye was not only squinting, but also had irreparable poor vision. The parents had been misguided that squint should be treated in adulthood for better results.

A baby with crossed-eyes after 3 months of age is considered to have a pathological squint. a few children, may also tend to adapt an abnormal head posture to align the eyes. Sometimes young children may have a flat nose bridge or skin fold over the nasal sides of the eyes giving a false impression of squint (pseudo squint). A qualified ophthalmologist can rule out a pseudosquint and prescribe the correct course of action, if required.

The exact cause of squint is not known. It can exist in eyes without any abnormality. It can be associated with cataract, injury, corneal, opacity or retinal problems. Certain brain disorders can also produce squint like cerebral palsy, Down's syndrome, brain tumours, etc.

Whatever may be the cause, delaying corrective action can be harmful. The first 3-5 years of life are extremely important for development of depth perception. Hence, an early eye alignment through squint surgery is recommended. Surgery can be performed as early as 6 months of age. So the mantra is "Early detection and treatment because.. delay can be dangerous".