Can Cataract Surgery Correct a Lazy Eye?

Can Cataract Surgery Correct a Lazy Eye?

There is no a specific surgery for the lazy eye (amblyopia), this condition can be corrected through the ocular occlusion, optical or pharmacological penalization, pleoptic exercises, use of red filters and prisms. Refractive surgery with LASIK has also been used. Since cataracts are one of the causes of lazy eye, the performed surgery can help to improve the condition.

Amblyopia or lazy eye is usually defined as the loss of visual acuity in one or both eyes without any alteration in the structures of the eye and may be due to different causes, among others, cataracts, strabismus or large differences in graduation between one eye and another due to the presence of one or several refractive problems (anisometropia). In these cases, while the visual system is being developed, the child uses one eye more than the other and the one that is least used loses visual function and acuity and does not develop fully.

Can Cataract Surgery Correct a Lazy Eye?

Although specialists cannot perform a specific surgery to correct the lazy eye (loss of visual acuity) some of the causes that produce it can be corrected surgically. Once the problem that prevented the development of the visual system has been solved, different treatments can be applied to improve the visual acuity of the lazy eye. These treatments, among which the use of patches to cover the dominant eye is the most common, should be put into practice before 8 years old, that is, before the development of the visual system concludes, during the so-called period of brain plasticity. Otherwise, the loss of visual acuity may be permanent and irreversible. Therefore, it is usually considered that the lazy eye has no operation in the case of adults.

Among the applied treatments to treat the causes of the lazy eye are:

-In the event that there is a cataract, the possibility of implementing an operation with intraocular surgery can be considered to replace the crystalline that has been opacified by a lens that does its same function.

-In the case that there is a refractive problem, the child should wear glasses with an appropriate graduation.

-In the case that the cause of the lazy eye is a strabismus, which is known as strabismic lazy eye, the ophthalmologist specialized in this pathology can choose different options depending on the characteristics of the patient and the type of strabismus that the patient suffers: surgery or botulinum toxin injections.

About the Cataracts Surgery

Surgical intervention is the only alternative for this visual problem, which is characterized by total or partial opacity of the crystalline of the eye. This is the natural lens with refractive capacity that allows us to focus on objects and give way to the external light that makes vision possible.

Over time, however, the crystalline gradually loses transparency. Hence, cataracts occur, especially in people of advanced age.

Currently there is no other treatment to stop the effects of this disease except by a surgical intervention. While each case evolves at its own pace, it is important to note that, in this case, we are talking about an anomaly that cannot be stopped.

What is a Cataract Surgery about?

To know exactly what the cataracts surgery is about, it is necessary to make clear that we are talking about an intervention in which a procedure known as phacoemulsification is performed in addition to the implant of an intraocular lens that replaces the natural crystalline of our eye.

The simplification of surgical techniques, as well as the search for the well-being of patients, have made this method not only one of the most guaranteed, but also the one with the highest demand in the field of ophthalmology, as well as the one with the greatest impact on the people´s quality of life.

In practical terms, we are talking about a procedure that is performed in about 10 minutes and that usually has a short postoperative, bearable, without significant side effects and after which patients significantly improve the quality of their vision.

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Team PainAssist
Team PainAssist
Written, Edited or Reviewed By: Team PainAssist, Pain Assist Inc. This article does not provide medical advice. See disclaimer
Last Modified On:February 17, 2022

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