Do you feel like your eyes are misaligned? Are your eyes unable to work together to focus on a single point?
These may be signs of adult strabismus. McFarland Eye Care treats these and other eye conditions to ensure you can see at your best.
Adult strabismus is an eye condition that causes the eyes not to align correctly. They cannot work together to focus on a single point when this happens.
The eyes should be able to coordinate with each other to aim at the same target, resulting in binocular vision and depth perception. However, if you have strabismus, one of your eyes may deviate from its expected position.
Because of this, there will be an imbalance in how the eyes are aligned.
Strabismus is an eye condition that can affect anyone of any age, including children and adults. However, the difference between adult and childhood strabismus is when it develops and or becomes symptomatic in patients.
Those with childhood strabismus will usually develop it earlier in life. Many patients may start developing the condition as early as infancy or during early childhood.
Childhood strabismus often occurs due to nerve problems, imbalances with muscles, or issues with how the brain can control eye movements. If you have adult strabismus, it typically occurs much later in life. Many patients don’t begin showing symptoms until after the age of 18.
Patients with adult strabismus may develop it for a variety of reasons. These can include recurring childhood strabismus, eye trauma, having an eye muscle disorder, as a side effect from certain medical treatments, or due to some neurologic conditions.
You may have adult strabismus if you experience any of these signs or symptoms:
If these symptoms sound familiar, you may have strabismus. However, only your ophthalmologist can diagnose you with strabismus, as these symptoms are not exclusive to this condition.
Yes, you can treat adult strabismus. Your ophthalmologist at McFarland Eye Care may recommend the following treatment options, depending on what’s causing adult strabismus and the severity of your symptoms.
If you have adult strabismus, your ophthalmologist may have you wear prescription glasses or contact lenses to help improve the misalignment by enhancing your eyes’ ability to focus.
Vision therapy involves doing exercises that help strengthen your eye muscles and improve your eye coordination to work together better. Certain cases of adult strabismus may respond best to vision therapy.
Prism lenses are special lenses with prisms that your ophthalmologist at McFarland Eye Care can prescribe for you. These lenses can help align the images you see in each eye, reducing symptoms like double vision.
Patients with more advanced cases of adult strabismus may benefit from surgery. Treating adult strabismus with surgery repositions the eye muscles to ensure proper alignment.
Although Botox is usually thought of as a cosmetic treatment, it can also be used to treat adult strabismus in some cases. The injections can help the eyes align better by temporarily weakening certain muscles in the eye.
Let us introduce you to Dr. Brita Rook at McFarland Eye Care in Little Rock, AR, during a personal consultation. She is the strabismus expert you need help you discover the best solution for you.
