Squint

What is Squint?

Squint is a disorder in which the eyes don’t look in exactly the same direction at the same time.

It is also known as ‘Strabismus’ or ‘Cross eyed’. It is caused due to a misalignment between the two eyes and is particularly common in children, but may occur at any age.

Symptoms

How to spot if your loved ones have Squint

Misalignment of the eye, making it appear not straight

Headaches and eyestrain

Fatigue while reading and unstable vision

Squinting in bright sunlight

Risk Factors

What are the risk factors leading to Squint

Hypermetropia (far-sightedness)
Family history of squint
Damage to the nerve supply of a muscle
Staring at a computer screen for long hours

Treatments Available

How we treat it

If your child has a squint, rest assured. Vasan Eye Care provides comprehensive treatments to cure it.

Glasses

Glasses help correct vision problems like long-sightedness, which may cause a squint.

Eye Exercises

These exercises strengthen the muscles controlling eye movement to improve coordination.

Eye Muscle Surgery

This surgery involves adjusting the eye muscles to align the eyes properly, often recommended when glasses alone are insufficient.

FAQs

In children, squint eyes often occur as the eye tries to compensate for vision issues like nearsightedness (difficulty seeing distant objects), farsightedness (difficulty seeing close objects), or astigmatism (uneven curvature of the front eye) causing blurred vision. For sudden onset squint, usually a paralysis of one or more of the eye muscles may be the cause. Your doctor may prescribe imaging tests to rule out a problem in the brain, or the back of the bony orbit.

Surgery might be suggested if other treatments aren’t effective. It involves adjusting the muscles controlling eye movement to align properly.

Amblyopia, commonly known as adult lazy eye, is when one eye has reduced vision due to abnormal sight development in early life. The weaker eye may wander outward or inward. Symptoms include:

Poor depth perception
Abnormal vision screening results
Head tilting
Shutting one eye

While there’s no set age limit, it is recommended to have the surgery as early as possible which results in the best outcomes. Additionally, doctors may recommend squint correction exercises to aid in aligning the eyes.

After eye muscle surgery, the child or adult can resume normal activities within a few days. Return to school or work is typically possible within a day or two.

Like all surgeries, Squint surgery carries some risks, including infection, bleeding, medication allergies, anaesthesia reactions, and temporary double vision. However, the success rates for squint surgery are generally high.