What is a lazy eye?
It’s common for children to have one eye that does not work as well as the other, that is
called a lazy eye.The medical term for this is called Amblyopia. The cause for lazy eye is
that the eye is either too long or too short or has a high degree of astigmatism.If it is too
long it results in extreme nearsightedness and conversely too short an eye causes extreme
farsightedness. Astigmatism is when the the eye is shaped like a football instead of a
basketball. Consequently the image from that eye to the brain will not be satisfactory,
leading to the brain rejecting its input. The brain than starts ignoring the eye and the eye
stops working to its full potential. Hence its called lazy eye.
Another possible cause of lazy eye could be that light is not reaching the retina for
reasons such as cataracts or other corneal opacity.
A final cause could be nerve abnormality. That’s why a checkup is necessary. Early
treatment by an ophthalmologist is very critical.
Over a period of time the lazy eye may possibly rotate point outward or inward. That is
called Strabismus or deviated eye.