Eye patches cure astigmatism in children?

I noticed the following reply in another thread about children and astigmatism...is what this poster says true? I thought that the purpose of making a child wear an eye patch with corrective lenses was to train the brain to see out of the bad eye equally as well as a good eye, but that the person would still always have to wear corrective lenses for the blurriness. I have never heard that severe astigmatism can be self corrected like this. Experts?


"My son has the exact same problem in the same eye.  He was 20/200 and 20/20 when he was 3 years old.  Put the patch on and don't stop.  He is going to hate it at first because he can't see much out of that eye.  My son ran into things and hurt himself a lot at first.  It really didn't take much time at all for that eye to develop.  Once he is able to see out of that eye, things will get better.  my son is now 9 years old and he has TWO good eyes!  success!  He is 20/20 in both eyes now!   In fact, the doctor said his vision is so good that glasses will be optional when he turns 10 (eye development is finished at that age).  You are soooooooo lucky this was caught at an early age.  If this wasn't caught he could have remained blind in that eye for the rest of his life.  Eventually the eye would stop moving.  Good luck! "


This discussion is related to 3 year old with severe astigmatism.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

The treatment of amblopia with patching (occlusion therapy) must be done under the direction of an ophthalmologist Eye MD.  Too much occlusion can cause the "good" eye to become amblyopia.  patching is to improve the vision, it does not cure myopia, farsightedness or astigmatism. Sometimes kids outgrow farsightedness and astigmatism but not always. Allowing a child to hurt themselves while patching is also not a good idea.

JCH III MD

[mission_mommy]

My daughter is 11 and we just found out she has a right eye astigmatism.  The doctor referred to patching the eye and the fact that the glasses she will now be wearing won't really correct the problem, they'll just make for less headaches perhaps.  Am I interpreting correctly from what I'm reading here, that it may be too late to strengthen the weak eye anyway, since she's already 11? Any thoughts are appreciated.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

At age 11 if she has astigmatism AND amblyopia then patching is not only very difficult but traumatic to the child and the success rate is low. Sometimes eye drops are used (atropine) to do a chemical patching of the good eye (penalization). Discuss that with your eye MD.

JCH MD

[Ana31209]

My 6 year old daughter was diagnosed with astigmatism on both eyes by a pediatric ophthalmologist.  There was no need for glasses.  Three weeks earlier an optometrist said she needed glasses 0.50 on both eye and she referred us to ophthalmology.  I'm confused.  During both exams she had difficulty reading the letters.  Will her condition get worst?  What should I do?

Thank you.
Ana

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

An optometrist does not have anywhere near the training and experience of an Eye MD. Also studies have shown that optoms generate about 6 times more glasses RX than Eye MDs. So many glasses prescribed by optoms are not needed.

I would believe the Eye MD.  If you're not comfortable see a second Eye MD and in the future don't trust your childs eyes to a non-MD non-physician optometrist.

JCH MD

[drsaima]

my 5 yr old daughter is recently diagnosed with a severe astigmatism -2.5 in one eye....other eye is normal...he has advised to wear glasses and use patch...but how long i mean how much hours should she wear a patch per day nd for how long...plus does it will effect a normal eye...i mean use of patch will lead to disuse atrophy of normal eye?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Your daughter should be under the care of a pediatric ophthalmologist. If you are seeing an optometrist (they are not physician, not MD get to an Eye MD)

Treatment will be very difficult at her age. The good eye will not fall in vision at her age. The Eye MD will determine how much to patch. Often eye drops (atropine) to "penalize" the good eye are necessary. BE SURE ALL OTHER CHILDREN ARE CHECKED AS WELL AS NIECES AND NEPHEWS ANYONE IN YOUR BLOOD LINE WILL HAVE A 20% CHANCE OF HAVING A CHILD WITH AMBLYOPIA

jch md