Amblyopia (Lazy Eye)

What is amblyopia or "lazy eye"?

Amblyopia, (am-blee-o-pee-uh) or "lazy eye” is one of the most common vision problems in children and is responsible for more vision loss in children than all other causes.

With amblyopia, vision is decreased when one or both eyes send a blurry image to the brain causing the brain to “learn” to see blurry with one eye and to “turn off” that eye in order to favor the other eye.

What are the causes of amblyopia?

Underlying causes for decreased vision in a child’s eye may include refractive errors such as astigmatism or farsightedness, strabismus (a misaligned eye) or a cataract (cloudiness of the lens).

Amblyopia can be difficult for parents, and even pediatricians, to spot. A child’s eye and eye structure may look fine, and the one “good eye” may have normal vision, so the only way to detect the amblyopia is with a vision test.  

What are treatment options for amblyopia?

Amblyopia treatment may involve prescription glasses, occlusion therapy (covering one eye with a patch) or blurring the vision in one eye with atrophine drops.

Blocking or blurring the vision in the “good eye” with a patch or with eye drops (which don’t sting) helps stimulate the brain to learn to use the other the eye. It usually takes a few weeks for your child’s vision to improve and the best results may be achieved over several months depending on the child’s age and level of vision. Maintenance treatment until 9-10 years of age may also be necessary.

Surgery may be used to treat strabismus (only one cause of amblyopia), but it is often not performed before treating the amblyopia with patches, glasses, and/or atropine.

If left untreated, amblyopia can cause permanent loss of vision. Because your child’s vision usually stabilizes at age 9 or 10 and after that may not improve much with treatment, Nemours ophthalmologists encourage early, age-appropriate childhood vision screenings.

Learn about Ambylopia Treatment Studies at the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children.

Additional Resources

The American Association of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) and the National Eye Institute (NEI) have excellent information and resources for parents about amblyopia.