Amblyopia of the eye - causes, types, treatment

Eye diseases can vary greatly from very serious to very insignificant.Amblyopia of the eye is somewhere in the middle. Although it does not pose a threat to human health and life, it can lead to a significant decrease in vision. We will understand what is the peculiarity of this pathology, what it can threaten and what measures must be taken to minimize its effect.

Definition of disease

Amblyopia is also known as the syndrome of a tight or lazy eye.With her, one eye ceases to participate in an equal degree in the process of sight.

According to some reports, around 2% of people in the world suffer from amblyopia. It is one of the main reasons for unilateral reduction of vision in people all over the world.

Most often children suffer from the problem, but adults also are not insured from it.

Causes

Amblyopia can have many different causes.

From these reasons depends on what type of this pathology will be in humans. Let us consider its main variations and their corresponding causes:

• Obscuration amblyopia.It occurs because of the presence of leukemia, that is, corneal opacification, as well as with strong changes in the vitreous body, with trauma to the cornea and a number of other similar causes.
• Disbinocular amblyopia.The problem begins because of the strabismus of the monolateral friendly type. As a result, the eye that deviates is simply excluded from the visual process.

• Anisometropic amblyopia.As can be understood already from the name, it develops due to the presence of anisometropy of an uncorrected type. The eye, where there are the most powerful refractive disorders, is exposed to the problem to the highest degree.
• Refractive amblyopia.It develops if the person for a long time has a long sight, shortsightedness or astigmatism, and, they are not corrected in any way.
• Hysterical amblyopia.It is not directly related to eye diseases. It occurs because of negative psychogenic factors, for example, psychosis, hysteria and so on. It can be accompanied by additional symptoms, which include photophobia, problems with color perception and similar phenomena.

Hysterical amblyopia

Depending on what kind of cause is dominant, the properties of the disease, the speed of its course and quality can change.

There are other possible causes, for example, preterm infants are prone to this disease.It can also develop as a consequence of such diseases as Kaufmann's syndrome, Benche syndrome, ptosis and miosis-induced ophthalmoplegia, and a number of others.

Symptoms

Symptomatology can vary depending on the form of the disease.In many cases, if the problem is not developed well, it can proceed without any noticeable symptoms at all.

It is very difficult to identify the problem in young children, because they can not yet compare how well they see both eyes. So you need to focus on indirect signs, for example, on the first manifestations of strabismus, on the inability to fix vision on a bright object and so on.

In older children, it is possible to identify the problem of eye deflection in the other direction, the habit of closing one of the eyes when turning the head, problems of color perception. Similar signs can be in adults.

Possible complications

Complications of amblyopia consist of visual impairments of different scales.They can range from a slight decrease in vision to almost total loss of it with the impossibility of visual fixation.Therefore, an operative reaction to this pathology is so important.

Vision with amblyopia

Treatment

Treatment of this disease will be effective only in the early stages. With a later treatment, there is a risk that the pathology will remain forever.

The most optimal method of treatment can be prescribed by the doctor on the basis of what kind of pathology is inherent in you.Here are just a few examples.

Medication

There is a method of penalization, that is, intentional deterioration of vision on the dominant eye.This can be done, for example, by instillation of an atropine solution into it. As a result, gradually the vision on the second eye begins to activate.

Atropine - drops with relaxing effect

In some cases, sedatives may be prescribed.

Surgically

Sometimes, for example, if you need to cure refractive or anisometropic amblyopia, laser correction can be prescribed.

Other important measures include hardware treatment, for example, reflexology, electrophoresis, vibro-massage and other measures.

The process of laser surgery in front of eyes

Prevention

Preventive measures include dispensary examination of children, starting with 1 month of life. It is also necessary to eliminate eye defects at an early stage.

Video

conclusions

Amblyopia is not a verdict, but measures should be taken as quickly as possible in order not to lose one's sight. Otherwise, then the chances of recovery will be less.