Squint is a widespread eye disease and right now, millions of people are suffering from this vision problem. There are several myths that is pertaining this eye disease and still, tens of thousands of eye patients believe that this vision blue is incurable but that’s not the case. Thanks to advancement in medical examination methods, a person can easily get rid from this disease and can see well like before.
Talking about the disease in general sense, let us see what is squint, its types, cause, symptoms, treatment, surgery, cost of treatment, eye exercise and more. So, without any further ado, let us delve deeper by knowing what squint is? After completing the basic details about squint, we will move further…
What is Squint?
Squint also known as strabismus is an eye disease where the eyes do not align properly; in layman’s terms, both eyes (oculus Dexter and oculus sinister) do not look at the same direction at any given time. When a human being with normal vision sees the eyes of a squint patient it feels like both eyes are looking somewhere else. When an eye patient has squint their one eye is turned inwards and the other eye will either be upwards, downwards or maybe outwards. This is not normal and needs to be treated as soon as possible.
Types of Squint Eyes
For your information, squint doesn’t have a single type. Basically, there are various types of squint eyes and they all are prevalent in nature. Let us see them in more detail so that we can know more about them.
Types of squint pertaining eye direction
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- When a patient has inwards eyes the type of squint is known as an esotropia.
- When a patient has outwards eyes the type of squint is known an exotropia.
- When a patient has upwards eyes the type of squint is known a hypertropia.
- When a patient has downwards eyes the type of squint is known is called a hypotropia.
Types of squint concerning presence
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- If a patient has squint eyes that is present constantly it is known as constant squint
- If a patient has squint eyes in sporadic interval of time it is known as intermittent squint
Type of squint when it is seen
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- If the eyes are open and they are being used it is known as manifest squint
- If squint occurs when the eyes are either shut or covered it is known as latent squint
Types of squint on the basis of severity of squint concerning the eye direction
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- A concomitant squint means that the angle or degrees of both the eyes are in the same direction whenever you look at them.
- An incomitant squint means that the degree or angles of both the eyes are not in the same direction whenever you look at them.
Types of squint on the basis of onset
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- The squint that is developed in infancy, i.e. in between 1-3 years of age
- The squint that is developed post 5 years of age or during adulthood
Types of squint on the basis of cause
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- In numerous cases of childhood squint, the cause of squint is unknown
- The common causes of having squint in the eyes are eyes disorder, eyes muscles, damage in nerves or brain cells.
What are Causes of Squint Eyes?
At times, it becomes very difficult to know the exact cause of squint eyes, especially when it happens to an infant. There are many people who by mistake consider unusual look of the eyes are squint eyes but it is not! Let us see the most common causes of squint in the world
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- Squint can cause because of heredity issues
- Squint can cause in the eyes because of the eye muscles are weak in nature
- Squint can also take place in the eyes due to any problem in the nerves
- It can also cause due to damage in eye muscles
- Another common cause of squint eyes are- cataract, glaucoma, corneal scars, optic nerve disease, refractive errors, tumors of the eye, retinal disease etc.
- Squint eyes can also take place if you have suffered any eye injury
Squint Eye Symptoms
The most common symptoms of having squint eyes are following:
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- The single eye or both the eyes tends to point in different directions
- Any child can have the defective vision in single or both eyes
- The kids with squint eyes sometimes only close one eye during the time of bright sunlight
- A child may experience double vision or they can suffer from confusion in visualization.
- A few children can either turn or tilt their face and head in any particular direction for using their eyes together.
What are Squint Eye Treatments?
The correction of squint does not happen on its own, and its treatment must begin as early as possible for best chances of improvement.
The first step in squint correction is the prescription of glasses. After the glasses have been worn, the doctor reassesses the squint. In case of amblyopia, or lazy eye, the doctor will advise patching of the good eye according to an age-based schedule. Some pediatric ophthalmologists prefer to penalize the good eye with dilating drops. Both these techniques force the eye with a weaker vision to see better and have been proven to be effective in children, especially less than eight years of age.
You must know that the correction or treatment of squint doesn’t take place on its own; you will definitely have to consult or visit an ophthalmologist for treatment. You must begin the treatment as early as possible so that the eye disease doesn’t become that serious in nature.
The first step in treating the squint eyes is the use of prescription glasses. Once a patient wears the spectacles, the eye doctor reassesses the eyes and in case of amblyopia or lazy eyes, an eye specialist might advise patching the good eye to a highly age-based schedule.
A few pediatric eye care specialists might use eye drops for dilating the eyes and in both these techniques, the weaker eye is forced to see well because the problem persists in the weak eye. This method is generally successful for the kids whose ages are in between 4-8 but for adult the treatment is a tad different.
Now, let us see the squint eye treatment in babies and adults in detail.
Squint eye treatment in babies
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- Prescription of prims that are special eye glasses with smaller deviations
- Eye exercise for strengthening the eye muscles or nerves
- If the case is severe, the eye doctor might suggest surgery or operation
- An optimal cosmetic surgery for better vision
Squint eye treatment in adults
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- Eye muscle exercises
- Eyeglasses containing prisms
- Surgery of the eye muscles
- Using an injection in the eye muscles
Read more – FAQs About Squint Eyes
What are Squint Eye Surgeries?
Squint eye surgery is also known as eye muscle surgery, extra-ocular muscle surgery, or eye alignment surgery that is performed in the eyes to rectify squint eyes or strabismus. With more than a few million surgeries around the world every year, it is one of the most common types of eye surgery in the world.
The surgery is generally a 1-day procedure and the patients have to spend a few hours in the eye clinic with minimal post-operative preparations. The duration of the surgeries varies as it depends upon the type of squint eyes and its severity. Once the surgery is done, the patients might experience redness and soreness in the eyes but this doesn’t last for a long time.
The ophthalmologist will give the eye patient with a cover to protect the eyes that will prevent direct light from entering the eyes. A special eyeglass will be given to the patients and it is highly advisable that the patient must wear it at all time to stay from any discomfort that might cause due to the stimulus of the eyes.
What is Cost of Squint Eye Surgery?
The cost of squint eyes differs from place to place and doctor to doctor. If you are visiting a highly experienced eye specialist who is using the latest technology and surgery to cure your squint eyes, chances are high that they will charge more.
But that doesn’t mean that you must not an experienced eye specialist; this is the matter of your eyes and you can’t ever be too safe. The cost of squint eye surgery also depends upon the type of squint eyes and its severity and number of muscles used for correction.
Squint Eye Surgery Exercise
These are the best and most commonly used squint eye exercises and are advised by the expert eye surgeons or ophthalmologists
PS: A few of the activities mentioned below are not exercises but they are must post-surgery
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- Wearing eye glasses
- Use contact lenses
- Patch the eye with stronger vision
- Palming: You will be glad to know that palming your closed eye can relax the eye muscle in and assist it in improving the flexibility of eye muscles. This must be done before going to sleep or after you have worked for long hours for better and best results.
- Pencil push-ups: Pencil push-ups are an excellent method of treatment for squint eyes. It can be easily performed at home or any place with the assistance of a pencil or any object that has a pointed end. To perform this squint eye surgery exercise, you need to sit up straight and move your pencil outwards and inwards for some time to stay away from the rigidity in your squint eye muscles.
Myths and Facts Related to Squint
Some widespread myths related to squint are
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- Squint will go away on its own
- Squint in children is not serious
- It is just a cosmetic problem
- Squint is incurable
- Squint surgery will cause eye damage
- Squint will reoccur after surgery
- My kid is too young to undergo squint surgery
Read more about Myths and Facts Related to Squint Eyes
Squint Eye Specialist
Dr. Jeevan Ladi is one of the best ophthalmologists in Pune who is highly experienced in the treatment of squint eyes. Doctor Ladi has been conferred a gold medal for his 25+ years of exemplary work in the field of laser eye surgery. He has also been awarded the very prestigious Dr. V K Chitnis Award for his 13 years of work in the field of intraocular lens implementation.
Hundreds of thousands of eye patients who are suffering from squint eyes visit the eye clinic of Dr. Ladi for getting the best-in-class treatment. Dr. Jeevan Ladi utilizes modern equipment in surgery and his success rate is one of the best in India. Also, Dr. Ladi has published various journals and scientific papers that are nationally/internationally recognized.
The staff members are also very skilled in the eye clinic and Dr. Ladi listens to the problems of eye patients with utmost care and then advises the proper treatment method for any eye problem.
So, now you know everything there’s to know about squint eyes. Always keep this point in your mind that squint doesn’t go automatically and you must visit an eye surgeon or an ophthalmologist as soon as possible once you have detected that you have squint eyes. Delaying it might cause vision problems that you definitely don’t want for obvious reasons.
Stay well & healthy. Take care of your eyes all the time as they are the only means for you to see this beautiful world.