Hi clicker5~
The short answer to your question is "Yes, it works in children. And
it *might* work in adults."
First, let me begin by saying that I have lazy eye ("amblyopia")
myself, and can tell you strictly from personal experience that
wearing a patch can help improve the condition in adults...at least
temporarily. If you ever have days where the lazy eye is pulling
painfully, covering the opposite eye will force it to move into proper
position (and therefore, stop hurting).
Now, on to what the docs say:
In children with *moderate* lazy eye, wearing a patch for a few hours
a day can improve their vision. It is considered important to have the
child perform one hour of "near" work while wearing the patch. (See
"Reduce Daily Eye Patching Effectively Treats 'Lazy Eye'" :
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/05/030514081220.htm )
However, the earlier treatment begins for lazy eye, the better. "It's
important to correct amblyopia as early as possible, before the brain
learns to entirely ignore vision in the affected eye," one web site
notes. ("All About Vision:"
http://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/amblyopia.htm )
For children with more severe lazy eye, surgery (at the earliest age
possible) is required.
Will the patch improve lazy eye in adults? "During the first six to
nine years of life, the visual system develops very rapidly," says the
National Eye Institute. "Complicated connections between the eye and
the brain are created. We do not yet have the technology to create
these eye-to-brain connections in older children and adults.
Scientists are exploring whether treatment for amblyopia in older
children and adults can improve vision." (
http://health.yahoo.com/health/centers/eye_vision/26.html )
However, it is generally considered better to treat adult lazy eye
than to *not* treat it. "The best chance of success in eliminating the
effects of the most difficult conditions, amblyopia or constant
strabismus, occurs before the age of two. However, this does not
preclude excellent success in many older patients and at least partial
success in most patients older than 6 years of age," says Dr. Jeffrey
Cooper. "There are numerous studies that demonstrate that treatment
after the age of 6 is very successful. One study compared treatment
before age 6 to treatment after age 6. They found no statistical
difference between the two groups. As a matter of fact, loss of an eye
in patients over the age of 65 who were never treated for their
amblyopia experienced a spontaneous improvement in vision in over
one-third of the cases." ("All About Strabismus:"
http://www.strabismus.org/all_about_strabismus.html#latetreatment )
"The Myth of Critical Periods" addresses the idea that adults can be
successfully treated, as well:
http://www.strabismus.org/critical_period_myth.html
You should be aware that while an eye patch is an easy at home
treatment that is often effective, there are other options, too.
Vision therapy or orthoptics (
http://www.strabismus.org/strabismus_cure.html ) are fairly common and
effective. A new type of eye drop is sometimes also used in place of
the patch, which works by blurring the "good" eye and forcing the
"bad" eye to work harder ( http://www.musc.edu/pr/saunders.htm ).
Surgery is prescribed for adults with a bad case of lazy eye; although
results vary from patient to patient, in most cases, there is some
improvement. (For an article about one success story, see
http://www.uihealthcare.com/news/pacemaker/2000/mayjune/04strabismus.html
) A less discussed treatment is to get injections of botulinum toxin.
(For more on this topic, see http://www.torticollis.org/botox.html )
I hope this helps!
Kriswrite
Keywords Used:
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"lazy eye" adults
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"lazy eye" treat effective young
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