In some children, the visual system did not have the opportunity to develop fully although the eye is structurally normal.  This condition is called amblyopia, or lazy eye, because the eye seems to have lost the desire to see.  Amblyopia causes no discomfort, so the child will not be aware of the decreased vision since the other eye sees normally. Amblyopia is often discovered at a vision screening exam at school or at the pediatrician's office.

The most common conditions that can cause amblyopia are anisometropia and strabismus.  Anisometropia mean that the two eye have very different refraction and on eye always sees much better than the other.  The weak eye then becomes amblyopic, or lazy.  This can be corrected easily with glasses if detected early enough.  Once the child grew older than age 5 and has not been corrected for this condition, he or she may have developed amblyopia and can never be corrected any more.

Strbismus means misaligned eyes, one eye looks straight ahead while the other turns in or out.  It is also commonly referred to as "crossed eye" even though they don't always "cross".  This condition also needs to be corrected with glasses or surgery at early age.  Therefore, we recommend that child should be examined by a qualified ophthalmologist before one year old to prevent amblyopia.