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Question

I am a 15 year old boy who has a squint. I want to know from you if this problem can be corrected. I haven't really seen an eye doctor about this problem but a doctor once told me that this problem can only be corrected before a person attains 3 years of age. I want to know from you if I still have a chance since I am over 3 years know. This is also worrying me psychologically. Any advice for me. Thank you.

(Stephen )

Answer:

Dear Stephen,

First, let me know whether you squint inward or outward. Then, are your farsighted and do you really need glasses ? Then that should first be corrected, as an inward squint may be greatly reduced by wearing plus glasses. Third, is the squint angle larger that about five degrees when wearing the proper glasses ? If so, consult an ophthalmologist that does a lot of strabismus surgery and have everything measured. Finally, it may well be impossible to have your squint corrected any further because of double vision that may occur in patients with convergent squint over age ten even when their eyes are straight because of "anomalous retinal correspondence (ARC)". ARC is an internal squint in the brain that wholy or partly corrects a squint of the eyes, to the effect that the image of the squinting eye is shifted. In these cases, the angle of squint cannot be corrected to zero. The orthoptist that examines the patient usually checks for this by placing a base out prism in front of the squinting eye, to simulate the situation after surgery. If the patient does not see double when the eyes are made optically straight by means of the prism, an operation is possible.

Yours truly,

(Herb Simonsz, MD, PhD)

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