PREVENTION AND HEALTH: SQUINT (LAZY EYE)
What is it?
A condition in which the eyes don’t look at an object in conjunction. The word ‘squint’ is also used to describe the condition in which children especially screw their eyes up to look at something. This is not really a squint at all but it makes sense to take your child for an eye test if he or she does this.
What causes it?
• In babies under the age of three months a squint (of the cross-eyed type) can be normal but over this age you should tell your doctor about it. Such squints are more likely to occur if either parent squinted in childhood. If a squint is left it can cause blindness in the affected eye as the brain suppresses the image from that eye because it is out of line with the good eye’s image.
• Short sight or long sight which is worse in one eye.
• Meningitis.
• Apparent squint. Sometimes a child appears to be squinting when in fact it is an illusion caused by folds of skin at the nasal side of the eye giving the appearance of a squint. These disappear as the child grows.
Prevention
Most squints cannot be prevented from occurring in the first place-prevention is a matter of recognizing and treating the condition that causes them. If you take action as soon as your child starts to squint you can catch it early and prevent it from getting worse-and certainly prevent blindness.
Try covering the good eye so as to encourage the muscles controlling the movements of the squinting eye to work properly. This also encourages the re-education of the brain into perceiving the image from the squinting eye. If this doesn’t work an operation may be needed.
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