All That You Need To Know About Squint
What is squint or squinting of eyes?
Abnormal alignment of 2 eyes which may exist constantly or intermittently.
Why does squinting occur?
Squinting occurs due variation in action of muscles that control the movement of the eyeball as well as visual acuity. Some muscles may overact while some may underact due to various reasons. This results in squinting in different positions of eyeball. The visual potential of the eye also plays an important role in types of squint.
What are the different types of squint?
Squint can be convergent (when the eyeball moves inwards) or divergent(when the eyeball moves outwards)
What is the treatment- non surgical and surgical treatment?
We first need to determine the cause of squint. We first rule out refractive error(any power of the eye), any other pathology of the eye such as Glaucoma, retinal pathologies like, HMD(heredomacular degenerations), congenital anomalies, retinal detachment, ROP(retinopathy of prematurity), any tumors (such as retinoblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma) or lymphomas. If after refractive error correction with glasses, squint disappears, there is no need for surgery. If small amount of squint remains, it needs to be corrected by surgery. If squint exists without any above mentioned causes then there could be muscle imbalance which usually needs surgical correction depending upon severity.
When should squint be treated and why?
Squint if left as it is can lead to poor fixation and hence that eye may remain lazy or amblyopic. Vision may not improve in such an eye after 8-12 years of age. Hence it is imperative to consult a squint specialist or a paediatric ophthalmologist at a young age.
Is it possible to do LASIK and then treat squint?
Yes we can nowadays correct refractive error with LASIK in case of anisometropia( when difference in power of two eyes is>2.5D) then go for cognitive therapy to improve neural synapses and hence fixation. This will help improve visual acuity.
Does it recur after surgery?
There are certain cases of large angle squint (>45 degrees) due to pre existing chronic pathologies. These may recur to certain degree 6-12 months after surgery. These cases are operated for mere cosmetic purpose under guarded prognosis.