Double Vision

Strabismus can often be called “lazy eye” in the community. Strabismus is essentially the misalignment of the eyes such that both eyes are not pointing in the same direction. One eye may point straight ahead while the other drifts out or inward towards the nose. Some patients may have developed this condition as a child, or as an adult. Certain nerve and muscle weaknesses may occur later in life, leading to strabismus as an older adult as well. There are many causes. Treatment may include prism glasses, patching of one eye such that only one image is seen from one eye, or surgery. Surgery is usually performed under general anesthesia in a outpatient surgery center. Dr. Agarwal usually can perform these procedures in under thirty minutes. She usually patches the operated or drifting eye for a week, simply for comfort. In some cases, both eyes undergo surgery, and no patch is used. Surgery involves opening the eyelids wide and tightening or loosening specific eye muscles that attach on the outside of the eye.