Procedure Description:

Heterophoria – Strabismus treatment

Squint is a condition in which both eyes do not stare in the same direction at the same time. Nerve damage or malfunction of the muscles that regulate the eye can cause strabismus.The most common symptom is that both eyes do not stare in the same direction at the same time.

Single-muscle squint surgery confines surgery to one eye and leaves other muscles unaffected for repeat surgery, therefore it should be considered as a main or alternate therapy for small- to moderate-angle strabismus.

In the conjunctiva, small incisions are created (a thin layer of white tissues lying over the muscles). The eye muscles are then detached or removed from their original position and joined to a new location, ensuring that when the muscles recover, there are no traces of squint eye.

Disease Overview:

Squint

Squint, also known as strabismus, is a disorder in which both eyes do not stare in the same direction. As a result, if one of your eyes is fixed on the road ahead, the other will turn inwards, outwards, upwards, or downwards. The turning of the eye may be continuous or intermittent. The majority of squints are observed in young children, roughly one in every twenty. Squints can appear in older children and even adults. Crossed eyes, wandering eyes, cock eye, wall eyed, and deviating eye are among terms used to describe strabismus.

Esotropia is a condition in which your eye moves inwards (towards the nose). Exotropia is a condition in which your eye moves outwards (away from the nose). Hypertropia is a condition in which one of your eyes turns upwards or downwards.

Disease Signs and Symptoms:

• The basic symptom of a squint is an unstraightened eye.
• When the misalignment is significant and visible, your brain makes almost little attempt to realign the eye, and the sensations are minimal.
• Headaches and eyestrain are more common when the misalignment is less severe or not continuous.
• Reading weariness, shaky or unsteady eyesight, and an inability to read comfortably are all possible symptoms.
• When your youngster is out in intense sunshine, he may squint one eye or tilt his head to utilise both eyes.
• It can also cause amblyopia, which is the loss of vision in the misaligned eye.
• Intermittent squinting is common in newborn newborns, but it fades by two months and vanishes by four months as the baby's vision develops. A real strabismus, on the other hand, is something that most youngsters never outgrow.

Disease Causes:

The motions of your eye are coordinated by six muscles located surrounding your eye. Extra-ocular muscles are what they're called. All of the muscles in both eyes must operate together in order for both eyes to be aligned up and focused on a single target. Both eyes of a person with normal eyesight aim towards the same thing. This aids the brain's ability to merge the two images obtained from the two eyes into a single three-dimensional image. This three-dimensional picture is what gives us the sense of depth.

When one of your eyes is out of alignment due to strabismus, your brain receives two separate images. The brain of a youngster with crossed eyes 'learns' to disregard the image from the misaligned eye.

• Wandering eye can be caused by a cataract, diabetes, an eye injury, or a tumour in the eye that causes visual issues.
• Premature babies' retinal damage or a hemangioma (abnormal build-up of blood vessels) near the eye throughout childhood might possibly be the reason.
  
• Your genes may also contribute to the development of a squint.
  

When a youngster with uncorrected farsightedness tries to concentrate, a condition known as accommodative esotropia can develop. This occurs as a result of excessive focused effort.

Disease Diagnosis:

In addition to the conventional ophthalmic exam, eye examinations such as:

• Examining the retina
• Testing for visual acuity
• Cover/Uncover Corneal Light Reflex Test
• Testing of the Central Nervous System and the Brain

Disease Treatment:

The condition of amblyopia, or lazy eye, must be addressed first. This is accomplished by covering the healthy eye with a patch so that the weaker eye is forced to work harder.

If the crossed eyes do not improve, ocular muscle surgery may be required. Different eye muscles are strengthened or weakened.

Eye exercises and spectacles may help adults with a moderate squint that isn't consistent. Surgery is required if you have a severe case of squint.

Botox, or Botulinum Toxin, is a muscle relaxant that may be injected directly into the eye muscles to treat squints.