Amblyopia

Amblyopia

Amblyopia, commonly called lazy eye, is an eye disorder that is characterized by blurry vision in an eye that is otherwise healthy. Amblyopia is the poor transmission of the visual image to the brain. Amblyopia can be the result of the misalignment of the eyes, such as crossed eyes.

Amblyopia can be caused by a lack of adequate use during early childhood. The source of the disorder is a developmental problem with the brain, not the eye itself. Because it is a vision problem due to the brain, glasses or contact lenses cannot correct it.

It usually only affects the visual ability of one eye. The vision received by the good eye may suppress the limited vision of the eye affected by amblyopia. This can cause a permanent limitation of the affected eye.

Birth to age six is a critical period of visual development. If amblyopia is diagnosed and treated by the age of two, it has the best chance of being cured. However, it can be successfully treated up to the age of seventeen. The later this condition is treated, the more vision therapy is needed in order to improve the vision of the affected eye.