Instituto De La Visión Dr. Méndez
Versión en Español
Strabismus (squint)
In this visual illness eyes aren't evenly aligned and each focuses on different directions. One eye is focusing straight while the other one rotates inwards, outside, upwards or downwards. This illness is most common among children, though some adults (male or female) may suffer frome it and it may even show in other relatives.
Every eye has 6 muscles helping it move in every direction, the brain controls this muscles simultaneously, so any alteration in these muscles, the brain or the nerves controlling these muscles may cause eye misalignment.
On the other side, a good vision is necessary for eyes to move and focus correctly; if one of the eyes suffers from bad vision (myopia, hypermetropy, astigmatism, cataracts, traumatism, etc.) This eye tends to focus towards a different point than the other. It is very important to correct the main illness to improve alignment or to avoid eye misalignment.
It is very important for children to have routinely check-ups by a specialist to detect eye misalignment and discomfort before the child starts going to school. If a child's vision is stimulated (before turning 6), the child will be able to recover all or most of the vision he may have lost caused by strabismus.
After this age, loss of sight can be more difficult to recover. Some of these deviations don't appear just every time, but just in some situations (depending on the illumination of a room, waking up, etc.) and maybe involving both eyes.
Specialists at Méndez Lasik Institute engage on a complete evaluation of each eye's sight and the kind of strabismus affecting the patient, obtaining a precise diagnosis and the most suitable treatment for each patient.
Strabismus can be corrected with frame glasses, surgery or both treatments.
