Its symptoms often are noted by parents, caregivers or health care professionals. If a child squints or completely closes one eye to see, he or she may have amblyopia. Other signs include overall poor visual acuity, eyestrain and headaches. It's important to correct amblyopia as early as possible, before the brain learns to entirely ignore vision in the affected eye. Amblyopic children can be treated with vision therapy, the correct prescription for nearsightedness or farsightedness, or surgery.
Vision therapy exercises the eyes and helps both eyes work as a team.
Vision therapy for someone with amblyopia forces the brain to see through the amblyopic eye, thus restoring vision. Sometimes the eyecare practitioner or vision therapist will place a patch over the stronger eye to teach the weaker eye to see. Patching may continue for weeks or months. If the child has become amblyopic due to a strong uncorrected refractive error or a large difference between the refractive errors of both eyes, amblyopia can be treated with glasses or contact lenses in the correct prescription. The eyecare practitioner may prescribe an eye patch along with the new glasses or contact lenses.