Amblyopia, often called lazy eye, is when there is a lack of vision in one eye because the brain and eye are not working together. The lack of vision can be due to refractive error, an eye turn (strabismus) , or deprivation (meaning a cataract or eyelid is distorting the image getting to the retina). The brain may start to ignore the image in the amblyopic eye. Amblyopia develops early in life, often before six, and sometimes the symptoms are hard to catch.

The earlier diagnosis and treatment yields the best outcomes. Drs. Hayes and Folwarski are InfantSee providers – a program that offers free eye exams to infants 6 months to 12 months of age. This exam can tests for eye turns, unequal refractive powers of the eyes, and other eye diseases.

Some treatment methods of ambloypia include, patching the strong eye to strengthen the weaker eye, contact lenses and glasses to correct the refractive error differences between the two eyes, vision therapy – a set of in office therapy sessions to help strengthen the weaker eye, and finally sometimes surgery is necessary to realign the muscles of the eyes.