Amblyopia question

I have amblyopia in the left eye. With a lens of +4 or +5 it significantly improves the vision in this eye and I can even read text, albeit not as well as a normal eye. I would estimate a 20/80 vision in the eye with this lens.

I am 29 years of age and although I know that usually at this age it is not treatable, I like to remain optimistic that vision in this eye can still be improved. My question is, is there anything that I can do to make this happen? What I was thinking was maybe I could get one contact lens to fit over this eye and as a rsult of being able to see clearer, the brain might start using the eye more.

However, I have been told that the brain cannot handle a difference of more than 2 diopters between the eyes, and I must say when the +4 lens is put over the amblyopic eye I do kinda see two images when I look at a point.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[John C Hagan]

These I feel are your options:

1. Leave things as they are. The amblyopic eye is an insurance policy against something bad happening to the good eye. If it did they you could wear a +4.00 lens. Let's hope this never happens.
2. Try a contact lens on the lazy eye to see if your brain can fuse the difference in the two  eyes.
3. Have refractive surgery on the lazy eye. Sometimes insurance companies can be petitioned and will cover this procedure. Hyperopic lasik is not as successful or predictable as myopic lasik but some Eye MD s do it. Or you could consider conductive keratoplasty a procedure I don't especially like and that our practice does not do but radiowaves are used to burn the cornea to correct the hyperopia. If it works it will need to be repeated every 3-5 years.
4. Do a clear lens (also called refractive lens) exchange where your clear lens in the lazy eye is removed and an implant put in the eye that will correct the farsightedness such that the residual refactive error is zero. Of coure that eye will not be able to read without a reading glass. I do not recommend multifocal IOLs in young people.

Be sure you know that any children, nieces or nephews related by blood will have a 20% chance of having an amblyopic eye also. Check them early about age two and a half years.

JCH III MD