Strabismus is an eye disorder in which the parallelism of the eyes is disrupted and they are in different directions. One or both eyes may turn inward, outward, up or down. Slippage may occur permanently or occasionally. Although strabismus is more common in infancy and childhood, it can also be seen in the adult age group. Strabismus can occur from visual disturbances, muscle anomalies, and nerve paralysis affecting the muscle.
The movement of the eye is provided by the muscles attached to the outside of the eye. There are 6 extraocular muscles in each eye that enable eye movements. These eye muscles have a great impact on eye movements, and a problem in these muscles can cause strabismus.
There is no single reason for strabismus. The most common cause is eye disorders, that is, refractive errors. How the pregnancy went, whether the birth was problematic, the child's development, and the diseases he or she had may be risk factors for strabismus. Head traumas, previous accidents, brain tumors, problems with the brain and nerve pathways such as hydrocephalus, and systemic disorders such as diabetes and hypertension may also be factors. There is a genetic predisposition for strabismus, that is, if there is a misalignment of the eye in the family, the chance of occurrence is higher.
Symptoms of strabismus include loss of parallelism in the eye, eye pain, headache, double vision, loss of three-dimensional vision, head position different from normal. can be considered to be. Although the types of strabismus are generally divided into congenital and acquired strabismus; They can be listed as inward strabismus, outward strabismus, upward strabismus, and downward strabismus. Additionally, there is hidden strabismus outside these clinical pictures. In latent strabismus, the eyes are normally parallel, but strabismus occurs when one of the eyes is closed. It may cause eye fatigue and headache.
The condition, popularly known as false strabismus, is caused by flattened nose root, facial asymmetry, and eyelid anomalies, making it seem like there is a misalignment even though it is not a real strabismus. is the state of appearance. It is appropriate for the diagnosis of false strabismus to be made by ophthalmologists after a strabismus examination. stop.
Normally, both eyes look at the same point and by combining them in the brain, a three-dimensional image and depth perception are created. If a young child has strabismus, the brain ignores the image from the strabismus eye and perceives only the image from the normal, well-seeing eye. Thus, the child loses the sense of three dimensions and depth perception. When strabismus occurs in adults, double vision usually occurs, this is because the brain is used to seeing images from both eyes and cannot ignore the image coming from the strabismus.
Although treatment for strabismus varies depending on the type of strabismus, nowadays glasses, surgery and botox treatments are applied. In some types of strabismus, the deviation can be corrected with occlusion therapy and/or the use of glasses. In strabismus patients, the deviation can be corrected with surgery. The attending ophthalmologist decides which treatment will be applied for which type of strabismus.
Strabismus is not only an aesthetic problem, it can lead to amblyopia and psychological problems. Strabismus is a condition that both reduces the quality of vision and negatively affects appearance. The priority for treatment is a detailed eye examination. For this reason, it is important for families to bring patients to an ophthalmologist without delay if there is a suspicion of strabismus, in addition to routine eye checks.
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