Amblyopia (Lazy Eye)

About Amblyopia

Amblyopia or “lazy eye” is a neuro-developmental vision problem that occurs during infancy and early childhood. Those with amblyopia experience reduced eyesight typically in one eye, even when best corrected with glasses or contacts. Left untreated, amblyopia can affect a child’s self-image, work, school, sports, friendships and may also lead towards depression.*

Details

When the ability to focus both eyes (binocular vision) is disrupted during early childhood development, the brain turns off or suppresses the incoming signals from the affected eye. Amblyopia occurs when vision development is disrupted in one of the following ways:

Strabismic Amblyopia – This common form of amblyopia occurs when the eyes are misaligned, a condition known as strabismus. To avoid double vision, the brain shuts off or suppresses the weaker eye.
Refractive Amblyopia –This form of amblyopia occurs when one eye has significantly uncorrected nearsightedness, farsightedness, and/or astigmatism. When this happens, the brain favors the eye with better vision and shuts off or suppresses the weaker eye.
Deprivation Amblyopia –This form of amblyopia occurs when light is blocked from entering an eye, such as cataracts or astigmatism. As a result of the obstruction, one eye becomes weaker, and the brain favors the eye without the obstruction, turning off or suppresses the weaker eye.

Amblyopia affects over 12 million people in the US alone (about 3.5% of the US population) and often goes undetected. However, this condition can be easily identified by a comprehensive eye health and vision evaluation. Those with amblyopia may have reduced eyesight varying from:

Mild 20/25 – 20/40
Moderate 20/50 – 20/80
Severe worse than 20/100

Symptoms typically include:

Squinting or shutting an eye
Impaired depth perception
Poor eye-hand coordination
Tripping and/or accident prone
Trouble with micro eye movement
Slower reading speed and comprehension

Treatment – Beyond Patching

Until recent advancements, treating amblyopia with an eye patch was the general model of care. However, patching:

Is very uncomfortable for the patient
Has multiple negative side effects
Has limited results based on age and usually not recommended past age 10
Does not usually develop the patient’s ability to obtain normal binocular vision with depth perception

Now there are better evidence-based methods for treating amblyopia that goes beyond patching.

At Wow Vision Therapy, we are a leading developmental and rehabilitative vision therapy practice. Our doctors and board-certified vision therapists treat amblyopia with intensive office-based vision therapy for more effective results. We address amblyopia with a personalized approach. Each session is one-on-one (therapist-to-patient), conducted under doctor supervision. Our providers utilize the latest technology and methods, including in-office and home-support virtual reality to develop binocular vision and depth perception, making treatment enjoyable and productive. Furthermore, our treatment is designed for all ages.

Our advanced treatment includes:

In-Office and Home-Support Virtual Reality
Intensive Binocular Vision Therapy
Visual Processing Development
Oculomotor Vision Therapy
Eye-Hand Coordination Development
Accommodation “Eye Focusing” Therapy

Results

After treatment, our patients improve their:

Visual Acuity (Eyesight)
Binocular Vision
Depth Perception (3D Vision)
Visual Processing Abilities
Eye-Hand Coordination
Reading Fluency

Testimonials

Now our bedtime snuggles are just as I had always imagined, Grace is happy and confident! Last week she even told me that on that day she felt like the smartest kid in the class! Our family will be eternally grateful for Wow Vision Therapy, Dr. Bartolini, and a very special thank you to our rock/leader/mentor/cheerleader Miss Lauren!

– Jessica

Vision Therapy has been the best gift ever given to Madelyn and our family. Now Madelyn has more focus when she is working on something and can sit still for longer periods of time. Madelyn is now on track to be a successful First Grader, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for her. We are so blessed to find this place and would highly recommend Wow Vision Therapy to everyone.

- Tom & Kayla

Vision Therapy has been the best gift ever given to Madelyn and our family. Now Madelyn has more focus when she is working on something and can sit still for longer periods of time. Madelyn is now on track to be a successful First Grader, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for her. We are so blessed to find this place and would highly recommend Wow Vision Therapy to everyone.

- Tom & Kayla

He’s so happy to be able to read chapter books; finally, he’s been interested in but could never read. Lucas also used to fail all comprehension homework. His teachers would say he needed Summer School to get caught up! Now Lucas passes all comprehension work.

- Jenny

Get In Touch

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