Squint Eye- Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments

Squint eye or strabismus is a condition in which eyeballs are not properly aligned. In squints or strabismus, the eyeballs point in different directions. The condition when arises among adults, the condition is known as adult strabismus. The condition is common, and around 4 in every 100 people have the condition.

Squint Eye Symptoms

Some of the symptoms of squint eye include

• eye fatigue
• blurry or overlapping images
• double vision
• pulling sensation around the eyes
• loss of depth perception
• difficulty in reading

Causes

This condition is common with people since childhood itself. However, at times, it can begin in adulthood as well due to some of the following medical issues.

• Diabetes
• Brain tumour
• Head trauma
• Myasthenia gravis
• Strokes
• Thyroid disease

Not only this, the misalignment in the eyes can occur due to the surgeries around the eyes as well. Surgeries like cataract surgery or retinal surgery can lead to the condition as the eye muscles get damaged.

Treatment

There are different methods one can opt from. Some are:

• Eye muscle exercises
• Glasses containing prisms
• Eye muscle surgery

Eye muscle exercises: Some of the muscle exercises help treat squints in adults. Notably, in the condition where the eyes are not capable of aligning themselves for reading and doing close work. The what convergence insufficiency is! The exercises help in doing close work. Close work requires you to focus both eyes inward on close objects such as books, a needle, and thread, computer screens. Convergence is the movement coordination and inward focusing of the eyes. Dr Shuan Dai can provide advice about home eye muscle exercises to help retrain the eyes to focus inward together. However, eye muscle exercises are rarely used in other cases of squints in adults. Prism eyeglasses: Eyeglasses with prisms can correct mild double vision associated with squints in adults. A prism is a clear, wedge-shaped lens that bends, or refracts, light rays. When worn by an adult with squints who has a mild double vision, the prism eyeglasses realign images together so that the eyes see only one image. The prisms can be worn on the outside of the eyeglass frames or can be manufactured directly into the lens itself. Prism eyeglasses usually cannot correct more severe cases of double vision where images are far apart or double vision caused by weak or tight muscles. Eye muscle surgery: Eye muscle surgery is the most common treatment for squints. Typically, squints occur when the muscles surrounding the eyes are either too stiff or too weak. Eye Doctors squint specialist Dr Shuan Dai can surgically make the eye muscles loose, tight or reposition the muscles in order to rebalance the eyes to work together.