|
Squint is also
called as “strabismus” is a medical condition of
eye when the eyes are not aligned in the same
direction. The squint eye may turn in (converge), turn
out (diverge) or sometimes turn up or down. These can
be present all or only part of the time, in one or
alternating between two eyes.
Squint starts because of an incorrect functioning of
the muscles that move the eyes ,faulty nerve signals
to muscles, refractive errors, childhood illnesses,
etc.
Squint is always associated with certain degree of
functional defect of eyes which make it important to
treat squint as early as possible. It can be
associated with decreased vision (amblyopia or lazy
eye) or double vision (diplopia). Loss of binocular
vision (ability to use two eyes together) can lead to
loss of fine depth perception (stereopsis) and
peripheral visual field.
Childhood Squint
Squint can start at any age. The cause is not always
known, but if squint is suspected, then the baby
should be seen for accurate assessment at the earliest
opportunity. Sometimes a “pseudo or false squint”
may be present due to wide gap between the eyes , flat
nose bridge etc. where the eyes appear to be
misaligned but do not actually have squint. Newborn
child may have a certain degree of misalignment of the
eyes which usually disappears by about 6 months of age
but if it persists beyond 6 months then the child
should be immediately examined by an eye surgeon.
The cause of squint in children is varied:
- Congenital
squint: these children are born with a squint,
though it may not be obvious for few weeks. A
strong family history could be present. In all
children the vision and need for spectacles has to
be assessed.
- Long
sightedness or hypermetropia: as the child cannot
focus well for near, he has to put extra effort to
focus. The over focusing produces double vision.
To avoid this double vision, the image in one eye
is suppressed unconsciously and in turn the child
avoids using that eye. If left untreated not only
does the eye deviates but also becomes a lazy eye
(amblyopia)
- Childhood
illnesses: Squint may also develop following viral
fever, measles, meningitis etc
- Injury: to
the nerves supplying eye muscles can lead to
squint.
- Hereditary
Adult Squint
When an adult presents with squint it is not only
imperative to establish the type and amount of squint
but also to establish and treat the cause of squint.
There are two main types: non-paralytic or paralytic
squint. The non-paralytic variety either persisted
from childhood or is a local eye muscle imbalance. Any
adult presenting with sudden onset of paralytic squint
has to be investigated in detail for the cause, which
could be medical, e.g. hypertension, diabetes mellitus
or surgical e.g. brain lesion. Majority of these kinds
corrects on their own within 6 months and surgery is
only required in cases where squint persists.
|
