Squint Eye Treatment, Symptoms, Causes, Prevention, & Treatment Cost in India

What is a Squint?

A Squint, or strabismus is a medical condition in which the eyes do not align properly. They do not look in the same direction at the same time. The disorder occurs due to poor eye muscle control. Other reasons are, improper balance of eye muscles, faulty nerve signals to the eye muscles, and focusing faults (usually long sight). Due to these complications, eyeballs may converge or diverge, thus obstructing proper functioning of the eye. The disorder can affect at any age (adult or baby). A child may be born with a squint or develop the condition right after birth. In case, the child develops the condition 6-7 weeks after birth, it is necessary to consult a doctor (eye specialist) and get them tested. Children with squints may also have poor vision in the affected eye. The sooner the treatment and care starts, the better the results.

Symptoms

Symptoms of squint are often difficult to detect. People often mistake unusual look of the eyes as squint. Children may often complain about vision problems. In case the problem is squint, a specialist should be consulted. The common symptoms could include:

Blurred vision.
Lazy eye (amblyopia) can develop: A condition where brain ignores signals.

Causes

The major causes of squint are either a nerve injury or dysfunctioning of the muscles controlling the eyes. Though the cause of squint is not clear, a person is more likely to develop it. The possible causes are:

Congenital squint - a family history of squint.
Long sight - develops as the eyes ‘over-focus’ in order to see clearly.
Childhood illnesses - develops following an illness such as measles or chickenpox.
Nerve damage - a difficult delivery of a baby or illness damaging a nerve.

Risks

The main risks of the disease include:

Double vision errors.
Retinal detachment.
Blurred vision.
Infection after the surgery.

Prevention

In order to prevent the occurrence of the disease, one should take care of the following things:

Closing the eyes and resting after each set of 4 repetitions.
Moving the eyes as far up and to the right.
Finding a point in the vision to focus on and count one breath.

How is it treated?

Squints if treated on time without delay, are easier to correct. Treatment is effective for young children. At Medanta, there are several treatment types available, which include:

Vision glasses
They should be worn regularly to correct vision problems (refractive errors).
Eye exercises
These exercises should be done to bring back eye coordination.
Medications
Botulinum toxin injections are given into the eye muscles which allow eyes to realign by weakening the muscles.
Corrective surgery
It is also known as strabismus surgery. It usually involves tightening or moving of one or more of the outside eye muscles, which helps to move the eyes and changes their position.

When do I contact the doctor?

One should immediately consult a doctor if they begin to face symptoms like lazy eye, blurred vision, or an infection. All these symptoms would be treated perfectly by our medical experts at Medanta.

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