I have intermittent exotropia due to amblyopia in my left eye (aka lazy eye). Wh!
Question: I have intermittent exotropia due to amblyopia in my left eye (aka lazy eye). What are my possible solutions?
I was born with perfectly aligned, working and 20/20 vision in both eyes.
Ok, so I’m 23 years old right now and my lazy eye is starting to affect my personal well-being and confidence. I was in a rollerblading accident (fell and hit my head going off a ramp with no helmet, yes I know, not a smart idea) at the age of 13. The fall caused me to hit the top left of my head against the concrete floor causing a temporary unconsciousness and “nerve damage” to my left eye (no physical eye damage). Minutes to days after head accident, my left eye felt like it had 0-20% vision ( 0% from minutes after the accident, to 20%, days after the accident), possible eye trauma? During the first few weeks to months after my accident, my “amblyopia” eye was very poor in vision, I would see only figures and blurry images. 10 years later my left eye is about 50% poorer in vision than my right (non lazy) eye which is pretty much 20/20. It seems like my vision has slowly been improving in my amblyopia eye since 10 years, but slowly decreasing in my good eye (non lazy) and I currently do not wear glasses or contacts.
So after several months of reading around websites and on the yahoo answer message boards and such, I’ve concluded that I have intermittent exotropia due to amblyopia in the left eye. To put it in common terms, I believe I have an “occasional (distance dependent)” outward deviation of the left eye due to poorer vision (brain shutting left image off).
So when I look at objects close up, maybe within 1-2 feet away from my face, my eyes are centered, aligned and seem to be working together to give me “binocular” vision but when I am looking at objects or anything further than 3-4 feet away, my left eye becomes “unactive or lazy” and deviates/moves outward by a large degree.
So here are my questions:
I am planning on seeing any necessary specialist within the next few months to discuss my options but does anyone know my possible solutions beforehand? Maybe visual therapy? Maybe surgery? Which one sounds overall like a better choice, which would most likely be successful. I don’t mind if surgery is only for cosmetic purposes, I just want to know what the best possible option is, if I cannot achieve functionality (best achievement), then I would prefer at least a cosmetic fixture (next best choice). Is there any medicine, supplements, eye drops, or anything to help improve the vision or rejuvenation of cells that I damaged in my left eye?
If any specialists are reading, which would you recommend me doing and how bad/good does my situation look in terms of getting back to 100% vision or at least re-aligning my eyes to be centered most of the time?
Answers:
Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
The trick is to think of your eye a bit like your arm, if your arm is week, you exercise it to make it stronger...its the same thing with your eye, what you need to do is cover the good eye when your in your house, this will force you to use the lazy eye more, therefore making the muscle and the control you have over it stronger.
if this does not work after 1-2 weeks then surgery would be a quick fix, all they do is cut the problem muscle that's pulling it in, but as with any operation its not without its risks.
good luck, let me know how you get on and what you decide to do.