Adults with Crooked Eyes
Know anyone with crooked eyes? The medical term for crooked eyes is strabismus (pronounced struh-BIZ-muss). If the eye turns inward it's called esotropia - outwards it's exotropia. There are many different patterns.
Strabismus is a common condition among children, with about 4 percent of all children in the United States diagnosed with strabismus. Most adults with the condition have had it since childhood. Strabismus can also be acquired in adulthood because of medical conditions including diabetes, thyroid disease and head trauma. Strabismus can occasionally occur after cataract or retinal surgery.
A recently published study in the Journal of American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus suggests that the benefits of surgically-corrected adult strabismus include not only improved health and vision, but also improved self-image, better job performance and promotions, and more hope for the future. In the study 101 patients completed a six-question survey. They reported large differences between before-surgery and after-surgery ratings of the severity of problems associated with their strabismus.
Because adult strabismus is frequently dismissed as cosmetic, older patients rarely seek treatment. Instead, they are encouraged to "just deal with it." Patients as old as 90 completed the study's six survey questions and ranked on a scale of one to 10 how strabismus affected their lives before and after surgery. Categories included social interaction (maintaining eye contact, social confusion), concerns about the future (blindness, inability to work or read), and job-related concerns (not being hired, retained and/or promoted).
In all six areas, patients indicated a significant improvement after their surgery.
Surgery is not the solution for every case of strabismus. For example, crookedness due to a refractive problem responds better to prescription eyeglasses. An experienced ophthalmologist can determine the best way to manage each individual case.
Related Topics: People With Visible Eye Deformities Face Prejudice, Vision Problems in Aging Adults
Strabismus is a common condition among children, with about 4 percent of all children in the United States diagnosed with strabismus. Most adults with the condition have had it since childhood. Strabismus can also be acquired in adulthood because of medical conditions including diabetes, thyroid disease and head trauma. Strabismus can occasionally occur after cataract or retinal surgery.
A recently published study in the Journal of American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus suggests that the benefits of surgically-corrected adult strabismus include not only improved health and vision, but also improved self-image, better job performance and promotions, and more hope for the future. In the study 101 patients completed a six-question survey. They reported large differences between before-surgery and after-surgery ratings of the severity of problems associated with their strabismus.
Because adult strabismus is frequently dismissed as cosmetic, older patients rarely seek treatment. Instead, they are encouraged to "just deal with it." Patients as old as 90 completed the study's six survey questions and ranked on a scale of one to 10 how strabismus affected their lives before and after surgery. Categories included social interaction (maintaining eye contact, social confusion), concerns about the future (blindness, inability to work or read), and job-related concerns (not being hired, retained and/or promoted).
In all six areas, patients indicated a significant improvement after their surgery.
Surgery is not the solution for every case of strabismus. For example, crookedness due to a refractive problem responds better to prescription eyeglasses. An experienced ophthalmologist can determine the best way to manage each individual case.
Related Topics: People With Visible Eye Deformities Face Prejudice, Vision Problems in Aging Adults
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5 Comments:
Twenty years ago I had surgery on my right eye to correct exotropia. The outcome was awful. I still have double vision in my eye, must turn my head in order to see only one object, and once my neck reaches the turning limit, that's it - there is two of everything. They told me I could drive within 2 weeks of surgery - it was a year of bumming rides. I lost a job over it. I have had to adapt to it. The eye tires easily. I close it when it weakens using only my left eye to read or do needlework. I have to be really careful driving.
And yep - the eye still wanders-people wonder what I am looking at when I am actually looking at them.
Several opthos told me the surgery should never have been done; no prisms or glasses we tried ever helped. The cosmetic issue used to bother me, but a few years ago I was diagnosed with a rare neuro disease that makes it appear as if I am drunk or stoned when I'm walking. So the eye wandering just adds to it and I let people think whatever they want. Cheers and all that stuff, you know.
Would I agree to another surgery to correct the exotropia? Not a chance.
Perhaps a parrot and a patch would make it more interesting for those who stare, hmm?
I am very interested in having surgery on my right eye. The eye contact thing is such a huge issue for me. People think you are dishonest if you cant look them in the eye. I work in radiation therapy and patients have to trust the information I give them. I feel as though it has cost me jobs as well. I have other physical issues but this to me is big. It's the most noticable
I HAVE A QUESTION, SEE IF ANYONE CAN HELP ME. I AM TOTALLY BLIND OF THE LEFT EYE AND SUFFER EXTROPIA. I WISH TO KNOW IF IT CAN BE CORRECTED WITH SURGERY PERMANENTLY, CAUSE I WAS TOLD IT CAN BE CORRECTED,BUT WITH TIME, IS GONNA MOVE TO THE LEFT AGAIN. SO IF ANYONE CAN ANSWER MY QUESTION, WOULD BE HELPING ME GET MY SELF STEEM BACK. THANKS ANGELGIRL
To Anonymous, I would love to talk with you. Your comment is my story excatly. I was hit by a car at age 4 ny coordination has suffered, vision is awful, I am afraid to drive. I appear to drunk with the way I walk. Finally someone who can relate. Lori at dhelms@woh.rr.com
I have had double vision since I was a child. I am now in my 30's. There is no neurological cause, it's just my eyes. It's not an all the time thing, only if I take off my glasses, or after I've been reading, or I'm tired, or driving at night, with my glasses on. I have seen scores of optometrists, and opthamologists. Not one of them took me seriously when I said I had trouble with double vision, they told me I had strasbismus and that glasses would fix it. When I was in 4th grade I wore reading glasses, because that's when the double vision was the worst, when I read. When I was 17, a doctor put me in bifocals and I hated that. It still didn't help. As I got older, other doctors put prisms in my glasses, with and without bifocals, and still it got worse. Now, the first thing I do in the morning is put my glasses on so I can see. If I take them off at all during the day, I'm crossed eyed. Besides being farsighted, and wearing glasses all the time, the physical look does not bother me at all. My family and husband can tell when I've been reading or when I'm tired because my eyes will be crossed, even with my glasses. My most recent visit to see an opthamologist was enlightening. He is the one who told me that my vision problem was not neurological, and that I do not have a tumor. Since that's what he specializes in, I now get to see yet another opthamologist who specializes in my condition. He's a pediatric doc, but he's the only one around here who specializes in this condition. His first order of business is to determine whether or not I have 'acute retinal correlation', or whether my eyes have become too used to being crossed. If so, surgery is no longer an option to fix my problem. I am to the point that when I read, I wear small reading glasses over my regular glasses. It helps for a while, but like all glasses before, my eyes eventually cross. Now it takes less time for my eyes to cross than it used to, even with extra help. I have no idea what can be done if surgery isn't going to work. I may have to just live with it, like I have always done anyway.
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