What is cross eyes, In filipino we call it "duling", in our town it's normal to see a person who has cross eyes. I remember the mother of my friend in bulacan a remote province in the philippine, she is not really cross eye, but all of the sudden, one day her eye become like that, but believe me after a months its return to normal, i dont know what she do. My daughter sometime at the ages of 5 months, her eye ball crossed when she look straight to me, what i do is, i turn her look to the other side, God grace she didn't become duling or cross eyes.
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What is Cross eye?
Cross eyes is a condition in which the eyes do not properly align with each other when looking at an object.
Crossed eyes official term is strabismus, but other names for it include tropia, eye turns, wall eyed, and wandering eye. Contrary to common opinion, being cross eyed is not the same as having a lazy eye, although strabismus can lead to a lazy eye. This condition may be present occasionally or constantly. If present during a large part of childhood, it may result in amblyopia or loss of depth perception. Adults may have double vision.
Strabismus also is an inability of one eye to attain binocular vision with the other because of imbalance of the muscles of the eyeball. This condition is more common in children, it can also occur later in life, like the mother of my friend. In older children and adults, crossed eyes can be caused by a variety of underlying medical conditions, like cerebral palsy or stroke.
It is normal for children under 6 months of age like my daughter, to experience occasional crossed eyes its called intermittent strabismus, because of their brains are still developing the ability to see normally and this frequently disappears as our child grows and his/her visual system continues to mature. But If crossed eyes or constant strabismus, become a problem in children over 6 months we should seek treatment immediately to prevent it from getting worse.
What is the Causes of crossed eyes?
Crossed eyes happen either due to nerve damage or when the muscles around your eyes don’t work together because some are weaker than others. When your brain receives a different visual message from each eye, it ignores the signals coming from your weaker eye. If your condition isn’t corrected, you may lose vision in your weaker eye.
Its also happen when there are neurological or anatomical problems that interfere with the control and function of the extraocular muscles. The problem may originate in the muscles themselves, or in the nerves or vision centers in the brain that control binocular vision.
Who are most at risk of having cross eyes?
Those who have a family history of the condition. Premature birth, have a brain disorder or brain tumor. have suffered a stroke or brain injury. have a lazy eye, are farsighted, or have vision loss have a damaged retina, and who is diabetic.
Although there are many possible causes of strabismus are known, among them severe and/or traumatic injuries to the afflicted eye, but in many cases no specific cause can be identified.
What is the Symptom of cross eyes or strabismus?
If we have crossed eyes, our eyes might point inward or outward or focus in different directions. We might also have:
Double vision and/headaches or eye strain.
Inability to read comfortably,
Fatigue when reading, and
Unstable vision and,
Decreased depth perception.
The symptoms may be constant or appear only when we are tired or not feeling well.
Psychosocial Effect.
There is a psychosocial effect when we have a strabismus, what are they? Especially to our children, a higher degrees of inhibition, anxiety, and emotional distress, often leading to emotional disorders. interferes with other who is normal eye contact, often causing embarrassment, anger, and feelings of awkwardness. How we can cope this? there is a coping strategy from psychosocial effect may employ while we have strabismus: avoidance to participate in an activity, distraction or deflecting attention from the condition, and adjustment in an activity differently.
So, It’s important to seek treatment right away to lower your risk of vision loss and psychosocial effect.
How to treat the strabismus?
Its depends on the type of strabismus and the underlying cause. Treatment include vision therapy, the use of glasses, eye exercise, corrective lenses, possibly surgery if the corrective lenses didn't worked and if the cross eye caused by an underlying condition like brain tumor or stroke.
Cross eye or strabismus can be cure if caught early enough and treated appropriately.
Note:
The article from this blog is for information purposes only and should not be used to diagnose, to cure or to treat for whatever health problem you have. You must consult a healthcare professional if you have health concerns.
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