Strabismus Surgery: Dr. says she can only straighten right eye by 50 percent to prevent long term issues?

Hi, I'm considering getting my right eye aligned. I'm 26 years old and I've had a lazy eye for many years now. When i was 6 years old, I had cross eyes and had a surgery to fix that. Over the years then after, I developed a lazy eye. I see perfectly fine, however, the right eye is consistently outward.

I went to see a doctor recently to straigten it, however, after doing a few tests, she says that my right eye cannot be straightened perfectly. It can only be straighten about 50% better to prevent me from having permanent double vision. I been researching online and none of my findings seem to indiciate that this is the case. The tests she ran were the different lenses over my left eye, and asked if i was seeing double or single items on the board.

Any ideas?

[Michael J Kutryb, MD]

I wonder if the surgeon meant was that there was a 50% chance of needing another surgery after this upcoming surgery.  Overall it sounds like the surgeon is trying to reduce your expectations so you are not overly disappointed if the first surgery does not do all you wanted it to.   Maybe she is really, really good and knows exactly what is going on.  I don't know.  Consider seeking a second opinion from a board certified ophthalmologist specializing in strabismus if you feel uncomfortable about the situation.