Lazy Eye (Amblyopia): Why Early Treatment in Children Matters

A child with a lazy eye often doesn’t know anything is wrong, because the good eye does all the work. Amblyopia affects around 2 to 3 in every 100 children. Treatment works best when started early, while the visual system is still developing.

Imagine your four-year-old’s school vision screening comes back: the right eye is fine, the left can barely read the top line. You’re shocked. They’ve never complained. Their brain has quietly been switching off the blurry eye. The good news is that with glasses and some patching, there’s still plenty of time to help.

Causes and signs

• A squint (eyes not pointing in the same direction)
• One eye being much more long- or short-sighted than the other
• Rarely, something blocking vision, such as a droopy eyelid or cataract
• Signs can include squinting, tilting the head, covering one eye or bumping into things

Treatment

• Glasses to correct focusing problems, often the first step
• Patching the stronger eye for some hours a day, so the brain uses the weaker one
• Eye drops (atropine) that blur the stronger eye, as an alternative to patching
• Treatment of any underlying cause, such as squint surgery

But is it too late after age 7?

Treatment works best in young children, usually before about seven or eight. Older children and teenagers may still improve, so it’s always worth getting assessed. Untreated amblyopia can lead to permanently reduced vision in that eye.

Sources: NHS (Lazy eye), US National Eye Institute (Amblyopia), American Academy of Ophthalmology. This guide is for general information and does not replace advice from your own nurse, doctor or optometrist.