Can you get a lazy eye? or is it just hereditary?!


Question:

Can you get a lazy eye? or is it just hereditary?

Hi, I'm starting to notice something weird about my eyes. One kinda goes to a side, it's not really noticable though, so unnoticible that I don't think it's even there. My dad says it's cause I spend hours on the computer and watching t.v.

Can these things really cause a lazy eye? I thought it was just the way you were born with?


Answers:

Amblyopia is what people usually refer to as "lazy eye"

Amblyopia is "reduced visual acuity in the absence of detectable organic disease in one eye."

Amblyopia is due to prolonged abnormal visual experience in a child under the age of 7 years.

3 clinical causes
1. Visual deprivation from congenital cataracts etc..
2. Due to strabismus
3. Due to unequal refractive error (anisometropia)

So technically you can be born with it because it can be caused by congenital cataracts.
It also can be hereditary because it can be caused by strabismus which is known to be hereditary. (Strabismus is basically any deviation from perfect eye alignment)
Also amblyopia as the definition states is acquired before a child reaches 7.
You do not have lazy eye because you watch too much TV or spend too much time on the computer!

"Many people make the mistake of saying that a person who has a crossed or turned eye has a "lazy eye," but amblyopia and strabismus are not the same condition. Some of the confusion may be due to the fact that an eye turn can cause lazy eye. In other words, amblyopia can result from a constant unilateral strabismus"
"While a deviating eye (strabismus) can be easily spotted by the layman, amblyopia without strabismus or associated with a small deviation usually can be not noticed by either you or your pediatrician. Only an eye doctor comfortable in examining young children and infants can detect this type of amblyopia"
Sorry for the answer being soo long I just wanted to get the point across that strabismus and lazy eye are often confused and they are not the same thing.... so it is possible you could have strabismus. :) See an eye doctor and they can do tests to see what the problem may be...:)




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