amblyopia

[Mel83]

Okay, so I was diagnosed with amblyopia (in the left eye) when I was about 6.  I patched the unaffected eye for quite some time, which eventually resulted in largely improved vision in the amblyopic eye.  From about 20/80 to almost 20/30.  I am 24 now, and ever since I was about 14 or so, the vision in my left eye has gradually worsened.  I am going to an eye doctor tomorrow, as I am not sure exactly what my vision has become in that eye, but I'm going to estimate that it's probably at about 20/60 now.  I actually see better out of my right eye alone than I do out of both of my eyes together.  Anyway, I'll get to the questions.  I wasn't familiar with details about amblyopia until a few days ago when I started reading more about it, and I want to know if I understand correctly...Am I correct in saying that amblyopia is a treatable, but not a curable, condition?  In other words, if I had amblyopia as a child (even though it was treated), does that mean I have amblyopia forever?  And if so, as an adult, is there any hope whatsoever of getting my vision in the affected eye back to what it was after being treated as a child?  Do I have to go through wearing a patch again or using drops (as I understand they have now) to treat it?  Is there any kind of surgery that would help at all?  I have also read that using contact lenses/glasses do not effectively treat this condition.  Is that true?  Sorry so many questions, but I have never really tried to learn much about this until I realized I feel like my left eye has become obselete to my vision.  If anyone knows anything and can help to answer some of these questions, it would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

[John C Hagan]

Amblyopia means an eye that doesn't see normal and the most common causes are eyes that are not straight (strabismus) and an eye that is much more near-, far- or astimatic sighted than the other.  It can usually be treated if therapy is starte before age 4, gets harder to treat as the child ages and may not respond at all after 5 years of age.

Because you vision improved to 20/30 there is a much better chance that if your good eye was lost that your bad eye would recover to 20/30. Had you not have treatment when young it would likely stay at 20/80.

If the bad eye is not used the vision will often slip even in adults.  Treatment involves glasses or contacts or refractive surgery but not patching.

Anyone related to you by blood (including children) has a 20% of getting amblyopia. everyone in your family should see an ophthalmologist about age 2.5 to 3.5 for amblyopia detection.

For a more detaile discussion use Google search engine and research amblyopia.

JCH III MD