What Is The Main Cause Of Strabismus? Can Strabismus Be Cured?

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 Strabismus, cross-eye, or squint is a vision condition that causes the eyes to not align in a linear way. It is mostly found in babies but adults can also develop squint eyes.  It is considered to be an aesthetic issue and people are always looking for ways to get rid of it.

What is the main cause of strabismus?

The main cause of strabismus is a miscommunication between the mind and eyes. The brain and the eye movements should be coordinated naturally but sometimes they are not which leads to this anomaly. Miscommunication and misfiring can occur due to the following factors-

Cause Of Strabismus

Known as the incompetent strabismus, this occurs when one side of your eye is weaker when compared with the muscles in the other one. For instance, many people could develop this condition as their eye muscles take late responses from their brain and this causes the missing coordination. There are people who also suffer from inherent muscle-eye coordination difficulties. This majorly occurs when it is congenital as they develop it during their formation inside the womb.

This is caused when there is significant damage to the abducens nerve or the sixth cranial nerve. Controlling the lateral rectal muscles often impacts the outward movement of your eyes. Traumas, tremors, and infection can cause degeneration which makes it impossible for the nerve to work efficiently. Additionally, damage to the oculomotor nerve or the third cranial nerve can affect the movement of multiple eye muscles due to the factors stated above. It is also caused by the development of aneurysms, head injuries, and other neurological conditions.

A vision is formed in our eyes through lenses and the refraction of light. Just like particular lenses, our eyes also need certain power to view an object kept at a particular distance. There are incidences where the refractive index of one eye varies from the other one. This could be both near-sightedness and farsightedness causing difficulty in concentrating on a particular object.

If there’s a familial history of strabismus in your family, chances are you might develop it too.

It is also accompanied when the person has some other eye condition including amblyopia which means the brain favors one eye over the other. Damage to the eye and its surrounding structure can cause the eyes to develop strabismus.

Also Read: Best Eye Bag Treatment

Can strabismus be cured?

Yes, strabismus can be managed through various methods. The goal behind all of these is to straighten the alignment of the eyes. Also, the success of the treatment can depend on the age at which it is received, which means strabismus in infancy could be easier to manage when compared to the one diagnosed in adults. Some of the ways include-

  • Corrective lenses– In case the defect is related to refractive errors, chances are wearing corrective lenses could resolve the condition on its own once the eyes reach a meeting point. This is often adopted in infancy as the effective way to deal with strabismus.
  • Vision therapy– It includes a number of exercises that are aimed at improving the condition of the eyes. Ranging from simple exercises to coordination tactics and depth perception, it is often proved to be beneficial when the coordination problem is minor or temporarily caused by a stroke or aneurysm.
  • Eye patches– This is helpful when the person suffers from lazy eye; a condition where one eye is stronger than the other. In this case, the stronger eye is patched to initiate the use of the weaker eye and ultimately align their movement.
  • Prism lenses– Prism lenses can be prescribed to align eyes optically. These lenses control the way light enters the eyes reducing the strain on the eye and finally improving the vision.
  • Surgery– In extreme cases, eye surgeries are prescribed to correct the condition of misalignment in eye movements.

Conclusion

The key is to determine and identify the condition as soon as possible. You could opt for any cure after consulting a doctor and then opting for the best way to go about it. There are also ways to determine its occurrence in babies even before they are born and parents could find ways to mitigate the impact of it.

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Dr. David G Kiely is a distinguished Medical Reviewer and former General Medicine Consultant with a wealth of experience in the field. Dr. Kiely's notable career as a General Medicine Consultant highlights his significant contributions to the medical field.

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