Strabismus (Squint, Crossed Eyes)

Strabismus is a condition in which the eyes are not properly aligned with each other. It typically involves a lack of coordination between the extraocular muscles that prevents bringing the gaze of each eye to the same point in space and preventing proper binocular vision, which may adversely affect depth perception. Strabismus can be either a disorder of the brain coordinating the eyes or a disorder of one or more muscles, as in any process that causes a dysfunction of the usual direction and power of the muscle or muscles. If mild, symptoms occur only when a child is tired. If severe, symptoms are present all the time and may include misalignment of the gaze of one of the eyes. Poor vision on one of the eyes is due to lack of use.

Causes: Only one eye points directly at the object being viewed. This abnormal alignment of the eyes causes the brain to receive conflicting images, which may result in double vision or, in children under the age of 8, suppression of the image from the misaligned eye.

The cause can be inherited, nearsightedness, or farsightedness. But the cause can be structural differences between the muscles controlling eye movements or paralysis of the eye muscles, due to a brain tumor. This is rarely caused by cancer of the eye.

A vision test can be performed and, if the problem suddenly developed, a CT scan may be done to look for a tumor.

Natural remedies for strabismus:

  • Corrective glasses can be given to the child to wear. Or he/she may wewar an eye patch for a period of time each day, to force the weak eye to be used properly. These treatments are usually successful, although the problem can recur.

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