Can patching help my exotropia?

Question

As a child I was diagnosed by an optometrist (I believe) as having a lazy eye.  If he said another term I don't recall, I was very young.  He suggested I do eye exercises where I hold an object, such as a pencil, away from my face and draw it in and try to hold a single image as long as I could.  I did this for awhile and then slacked off, I suppose.  No other doctor ever really mentioned it except one a couple of years ago that gave me prisms in my eye-glasses for it but that just caused double-vision.  Another optometrist, after the prisms, gave me eye-glasses without them stating my brain was ignoring the bad eye and they wouldn't work together anyway so why spend the extra money.  

I am wondering, at age 32, if I am beyond help with it other than surgery which my insurance will not cover.  I can cover my good eye and see with my "bad" eye for awhile and when I uncover my good eye I seem to have binocular vision for awhile.  Could this be an indication that I may benefit from eye patching therapy?  Thank you!

AAO-MD-JH · Accepted Answer

Remember that "lazy eye" is not a diagnosis and is a very imprecise term since the following medical terms are sometimes called "a lazy eye:"  1. droopy upper eyelid (ptosis)  2. eye that is not straight (strabismus usually out turning exotropia and 3 and eye that does not see normal (amblyopia).

You sound like you have intermittent exotrophia. You should see an Eye MD ophthalmologist that specilizes in strabismus. You live in Jeff City. I believe the Univeristy of Missouri in Columbia has one in their ophthalmology department. If not bot St. Louis University and Washington University in St. Louis have members of their department of ophthalmology that has this type of care. In Kansas city   Trudi Grin MD in private practice is good as is Gearhart Cibis MD.

JCH MD

AAO-MD-JH · Answer

Good luck.
JCH MD

kais79 · Answer

Thank you SO MUCH for your suggestions!  After I posted here I talked to my mother and she had me make an appointment with her ophthalmologist for a consult and then he may refer me to Columbia, as you suggested.  Thank you, once again, for your response!!!

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