What is Squint?
Squint, or strabismus, is when the eyes are not aligned properly and look in different directions. This misalignment can be constant or occur only sometimes.
Does My Child Have a Squint?
Parents might notice their child's eyes deviating. Sometimes, this can be a false alarm due to features like telecanthus (wide-set eyes) or epicanthus (a fold of skin near the eye). It’s essential to have a squint specialist evaluate the child. A squint in a child older than 3-4 months should be taken seriously and assessed by a specialist.
What Happens if I Don’t Correct a Squint?
If a squint is not corrected, each eye sends a different image to the brain, leading to confusion. This can have two outcomes:
- In children, The brain ignores the image from the misaligned eye, causing it to become lazy and lose vision (amblyopia).
- In adults, The brain can't ignore either image, resulting in double vision, which can be very disruptive.
What is Occlusion Therapy?
Occlusion therapy is a vital part of squint treatment. It involves covering the good eye to encourage the squinting eye to work harder and improve vision.
What is the Treatment for Squint?
The main goals of squint treatment are:
1. Preserve or restore vision.
2. Straighten the eyes.
3. Restore binocular vision
Squint surgery has become less invasive with new techniques like Fornix-based incision.
The goal of the surgery is to align the eyes so they can focus on the same image. This can
involve operating on the muscles of the squinting eye or both eyes. Minimal rest is needed
after surgery, though some redness may last for a few weeks.