Anyone know about amblyopia/patching?

[MelissaE1]

Does anyone have experience with a child that has amblyopia? My dd is six, almost seven, and they recently figured out she had this. Her vision is 20/20 in her left eye and 20/60 or so in the left, but they tell me she is farsighted in both eyes, although I don't really get how you can be farsighted and still have 20/20 vision.

We took her to two optometrists (local and Sears) who prescribed glasses only, but differing prescriptions, and then our pediatrician sent us to a pediatric opthalmologist and he gave her a really strong prescription for the bad eye (+4.50) and a weaker prescription for the 20/20 eye (+1.75) and he wants us to patch her 24/7. All the info I can find online has kids being patched for a few to several hours a day, not ALL day. Seems like that could be bad for the "good" eye -- not to mention having a corrective lens when the eye sees 20/20.

Anyone else have any experience/info/insight/advice?

 

[Briarmom]

I don't have any info, but that sounds like me!! Only my left eye is around +2.75 and my right is nothing. I found out this when I was 13. I had never been to an eye doc before this, and I was having headaches. My doc said I had probably been this way for most of my life, and it just didn't bother me. My prescription has not changed (I am 28) but I haven't been to the eye doc in a few years. I rarely wear my glasses, don't need them to drive or anything. When I first got the 'diagnosis' I got a contact lens. It was weird how I could see differently. Especially at sports type stuff. The ball was in focus, that kind of thing. I was never good at sports, but I was upset that I took all that ribbing for not being able to hit a ball etc. Contacts were very uncomfortable for me. I still can't wear one comfortably.

Anyway, sorry this turned into my life story. Do let me know what happens with the patching. Is this supposed to make her other eye stronger? My mother thought that is what they should have done with me, but my doc looked at her like she was nuts. If this works, I would consider doing it!!
Good luck!

 

[4greatboys]

My 5 yr olds MDO teacher last year brought to our attn he might have a "lazy" eye. So off to the dr we went. Turns out he does and we found out he was very far sighted as well. His dr is not patching the eye but using glasses to correct both problems and so far its working out well. Lots of drs now use just the glasses to correct it and not so much the patching.
If you dont want to patch go with the dr that uses glasses only.
I did think it was odd at first that my ds didnt get patched but I asked the ppl at the place where we got his glasses (we didnt get them at the drs office) and they said they dont see to many patched kids these days. Most just have the corrective lenses.

 

[Mom21]

My dd has amblyopia and is far sighted. We caught it when she was 4. Dr said we were lucky. If you don't do something by age 8, he says it is permanent. Anyway my dd started out with a strong prescription. In the 4's I believe. No patching. Each time he gave her a gradually weaker prescription. Her last visit (she is now 8) he said her vision was now 20/20 but still gave her a 1.25 and a 1.5. He said after their vision is corrected they must wear glasses for at least another year to prevent it from returning to the way it was. Says dd will be out of glasses by about age 10.

I would get a second opinion. Like the previous poster said, drs rarely patch anymore especially for a child your dd's age that would have to wear it to school. Second opinions never hurt.

 

[emmoms]

I have two daughters (out of three) who have amblyopia ("lazy eye"). Our oldest daughter has strabismus ("turned eye") as well. Their vision difficulties were discovered by the beginning of their kindergarten years. We noticed that DD1's eyes were not aligned when she brought her kindergarten class picture home. Because we were aware of DD1's problem (right eye), we kept a close eye on DD2 and DD3 and discovered the amblyopia in DD3 at her "getting ready for kindergarten" pediatric visit. The pediatrician couldn't get a read on her left eye - at one test it was 20/70, at the next it was 20/50, then back to 20/70. DD3 told the eye doctor: "My left eye goes to sleep. I can hear it snoring."

DD1 and DD3 (now 23 yo) both had occulsions included in their glasses prescriptions. Their glasses consisted of four separate prescriptions - two different bifocal strengths and two different distance strengths. DD1 had prisms in her lenses as well (for astigmatism ???). (DD1's strabismus was completely corrected by vision training.) She still uses prisms in her glasses' prescription to this day. She's 27 yo now. An occlusion is a fogginess included in the lens of the stronger eye. Both daughters had this gradually lessened as their weaker eye grew strong through vision training. Towards the end of their treatment plans, the doctor used Magic scotch tape to cover a small section of the inner part (near their nose) on the weak eye lens as the occlusion. He said that as the eye "turned off", the mind would notice the occlusion and it would be stimulated to activate again. They both went to vision training once a week for about 2 years - our insurance covered the cost. I swear by the vision training. I think it made all the difference for both of them.

Here is a link that has some good information from the website of the doctors we used: http://www.vision-therapy.com/index.html

 

[crz4mm2]

DS had lazy eye when he was little. We discovered it when he was quite young, about 18months. We did patching and eye exercises. He also had a very strong RX in his glasses. The patching/exercises and RX worked. He stopped wearing glasses in about 5th grade I think it was.

He is now 25! I know things have changed, but have a friend who has a son that recently was patched. So some people still use the patch.

Cathy

 

[emmoms]

I should mention that DD1 graduated from the University of Virginia in 2000, worked there for 4 years and then decided to go for a masters degree. She'll be graduating from the University of Maryland in December. DD3 graduated in May from the University of Connecticut with a masters degree in physical therapy.

Having amblyopia is not limiting in ANY way with the possible exception of some sports -- the girls had difficulties with basketball and baseball -- but then, who's to say that they wouldn't have had those problems without the amblyopia. All 3 DD are avid swimmers!