Amblyopia is decreased vision in one eye for a non-pathological reason. Most often it is due to either an eye turn or a large difference in prescriptions between the eyes. Regardless of the cause the end result is the same, but can in many cases be corrected if treated early.

Eye turns can fall into several categories. Exotropia is an Outward turn, Esotropia is an Inward turn, Hypotropia is Downward and Hyper tropia is Upward in nature. An often missed anomaly is the Cyclorotation which is a rotation of the eye. It is difficult to see unless the doctor is well trained and experienced in Strabismus ( eye turns). All of these issues will have the same result regardless of the direction of the turn. The reason for the decrease in vision in the turned eye is because that eye will have the image focused on to a part of the retina that has less neuroreceptors resulting in a blurrier image. Therefore, when the Lateral Geniculate Body part of the brain is developing between the ages of birth and 7-10 years old, it does not receive the same stimuli as the other eye. This causes the turned eye to have a permanent reduction in neurological ability to transmit the image to the brain. The Lateral Geniculate Body is a transfer station near the brain stem that functions to send images to the brain. If it is not properly "built" at the time of development it will never be able to supply equal stimuli to the brain. The result is Amblyopia.

The same result will occur if one eye has a very different refractive strength from the other. The eye with the weaker power will be chosen to be the main eye for seeing. This results in the other one becoming Amblyopic for the same reason as before.

The good news is that if diagnosed early both eyes can have normal vision. The only exception would be if one eye has such a prescription that it does not have the same visual ability as the other eye. Extremely high powers spread out the retinal receptors causing a lack of visual ability regardless of the stimulation.

Treatment for Amblyopia includes extensive stimulation of the eye. This is accomplished by patching the good eye forcing the weaker eye to do all the work. Patching may vary from several hours per day to full time. However, it must be noted that the good eye must get stimulation as well or it may lose its' ability if deprived of work as well. In addition, most experienced practitioners will have a Vision Therapy program in place to additionally stimulate the weaker eye. This may include ocular motility exercises, accommodative or focusing work, and even binocular therapy when the eyes are able to work together. As long as treatment is initiated early enough, the results are usually good. As the child gets older the likelihood for deeply ingrained Amblyopia is much greater and permanent. While teenagers and young adults may not get as good results from Amblyopia therapy, there is often an improvement in their visual functioning. This can make their ability to navigate through the visually demanding work environment more comfortable. So no one is ever to old to be helped. The results will vary and will not be as pronounced as with a young child.

When there is Amblyopia all eye glasses should be made of Polycarbonate safety lenses to protect the better seeing eye. If some thing were to happen to the good eye the patient would have to rely on the "bad" eye. Like wise contact lens wear should be carefully controlled and all extra precautions must be taken for the same reason. In short, when there is the possibility of Amblyopia early aggressive treatment must be initiated for as long as is needed for the best lifetime results.