Did you know, Abraham Lincoln had a squinted eye. His left eye used to point upwards. For years and years, people with squinted eyes have faced problems related to vision, and public embarrassment. It is a myth that squint cannot be corrected. As a matter of fact, eyes can be straightened at any time or age. You could be thinking that it is by birth, hereditary or accident. The squint takes place due to refractive error, nerve palsy, childhood illness or incorrect muscle balance (that controls the eye movement).
Before we go ahead in squint surgery, let’s understand how this issue affects your vision. If you have noticed, people who have squint tend to look in different directions. Squint, unfortunately, doesn’t restrict to wrong directions alone, it can cause double vision, and lazy eye (amblyopia) among younger children (with poor vision with a squint). Also, squint can also cause people to develop abnormal positioning of the head.
How to Assess Squint?
Squint can be assessed by different kinds of orthoptics tests. These tests help you to define the type of squint and check how is the child or adult able to see. Also, there are tests for binocular vision that help in assessing squint. In addition fundus examination like fixation pattern is undertaken.
Usually, in the squinted eye, the vision tends to deteriorate with passing time. This takes place because the brain refuses the weaker message that has been sent from the affected eye. The issue of lazy eye can be treated until the age of 6 or 7 years of age. But, it is important that such problems should be treated at the earliest.
Strabismus surgery takes place on the extraocular muscles for correcting strabismus – the eye misalignment. Squint correction surgery or strabismus surgery is a widely practiced activity. This involves moving or tightening of one or more than one eye muscles which are responsible for the change in eye position.
The muscles are attached close to the front of the eye (under the conjunctiva). Be informed that during the surgery the eye is never taken out of the socket. Proper stitches are done in order to attach the eye muscles in the new positions.
The Recovery Period After the Surgery
It usually takes a few weeks to recover fully with corrective squint surgery. During the healing period, one may feel itchy or painful for a temporary period and also there can be double vision for a smaller period.
There are several eye care service providers in the country but one leading organisation that you can go for is Centre for Sight. Based out of the capital, CFS has managed to treat squint eye surgery with utmost precision and care.
