Causes Of Crossed Eyes In Babies: Symptoms & How To Correct It?

Causes Of Crossed Eyes In Babies: Symptoms & How To Correct It? . Crossed eye or misalignment of eyes is a commonly encountered ophthalmic problem among children and babies. In medical parlance the misalignment of eyes is called strabismus. During the first three to four months the child may often have wandering eyes. But gradually after 4 months to 1 year the eyes straighten out.

Crossed eyes is a condition where both the eyes do not focus at the same object at the same time. One or both the eyes may converge inwards or outwards, upwards or downwards. The abnormality can remain constant or it may occur occasionally.

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It is usually caused as a result of weak eye muscles or extreme farsightedness though the exact cause still remains unknown.

Parents should never wait and let the child outgrow crossed eyes as the disorder can affect child’s eyesight, in fact babies never outgrow of this abnormality. Owing to the cosmetic blemish, psychological problems may arise. The treatment consists of wearing eye glasses, prisms and surgical repair of muscles of eyes.

What Causes Strabismus In Babies?

Many times no definite cause can be assigned. Strabismus can be congenital and in some cases there is a family history.

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Cross eyes is usually caused as a result of weakness in eye muscles.

It can also be a result of damage to the nerve which transmits instructions to eye muscle. In some instances brain injury during birth may cause strabismus.

Strabismus may also result in babies having extreme farsightedness. With this refractory error the eye needs to focus more on an object for a clearer vision.

Signs And Symptoms Of Crossed Eyes

The symptoms and signs of crossed eyes are obvious. The eyes have tendency to deviate from each other in or out, up or down. The eyes may focus in different directions. Most children do not complain of any problem in the beginning. The abnormality is observed more often by parents or the teacher. Aside from this, there are several other signs that may hint crossed eyes.

• While focusing on an object the eyes may look apart. They may divulge in opposite direction.
• Due to difficulty in focusing on an object the child may turn his head to one side.
• He is unable to measure the depth or is unable to visualize in three dimensions.
• Squint is observed only in one eye.
• Fusion may be possible in some fields of gaze, but impossible in others. For example, the child may see singly when he looks straight ahead or downwards, but he may have double vision when he looks upwards. He therefore avoids looking up.

How To Correct Crossed Eyes In Babies?

The treatment of crossed eyes may depend on its cause. It also depends on how severe the misalignment is. In children strabismus may be cured either by wearing glasses or surgical repair of the weak eye muscle. In few cases patching of eye may help.

• Eye glasses: Eye glasses may help in children who have farsightedness and other refractory errors.
• Eye patch: An eye patch is applied on the better or unaffected eye. It blocks the light and the child has to forcibly see through the weaker eye. Over a period of time, patching helps the weak eye to visualize better. It makes the weak eye strong. In some cases the muscles of weak eye become strong and have better alignment. Kids have to wear the patch at least 3 to 4 hours when they are awake. In the beginning the child may find difficult to adjust but he may finally adapt well with the patch over a period of time. It becomes a daily routine.
• Surgical repair: Operative treatment is reserved for those children who do not respond to wearing glasses and eye patch. The affected eye muscles are surgically made tight or lose as the case may be. Surgery is effective and safe although it might be expensive.