Strabismus is the disease condition in which the eyes are not aligned. They may turn inward (esotropia) or outward (exotropia). One eye can be higher than the other (hypertropia). In all cases, the eyes cannot work together because each is focused on a different object.
There are many causes of strabismus. Children who are farsighted, can sometimes develop crossed eyes, related to that farsightedness. Strabismus can develop if one eye sees poorly. Strabismus can also cause an eye to see poorly, by causing amblyopia (lazy eye) to develop.
The treatment and prognosis for strabismus depend on the cause in a particular patient. Most often, the treatment for strabismus involves several steps. The first step is to try to get both eyes seeing equally. If there is a lazy eye, it is treated first by patching the better eye, forcing the weaker one to work. Once the eyes are seeing as well as possible, surgery is often recommended to realign the eyes. This is done by adjusting some of the muscles which control eye position. Special types of glasses are also prescribed, if needed, to equalize vision between the two eyes, as well as "fine tune" the alignment of the eyes. Sometimes glasses alone or glasses with eye drops will cure strabismus caused by farsightedness.
PLEASE NOTE: The information contained on this system is not intended to supplant individual professional consultation, but is offered as a community education service. Advice on individual problems should be obtained directly from a professional.
Copyright, 1994. Richard E. Gans, M.D.
Last Modified: August 23, 1996