Here’s an interesting news item. Is anyone reading this that has used it? An article entitled Treatment seems to Help Adults With Lazy Eye published at Forbes says a “new treatment developed by the University of Southern California (USC) and three Chinese universities” may help adults with amblyopia.
The article goes on to say, “The new treatment involves training the patients to detect a small gabor, a set of contrasting ovals.” An average of 70% improvement in vision of adults with amblyopia was reported, with no improvement in those without amblyopia.
Especially interesting is that info says it may be developed as a home training program. Of course there is the issue of how much it will cost and if insurance will cover it. I’m sure the bottom line for each will be, will it work for me?
hi folks. ive been taking zoloft 100mg (generic) for the past few days and my vision has much improved. though my left eye still drifts at the end of the day, keeping it trained straight is much more manageable even effortless. also my mood is much more elevated. i’m going to try to cut the dose down the next few days and see how that goes.
take care.
hi guys, i know how you all feel coz i have the same condition. Its good to have a site like this where we can share our experiences. I have amblyopia since i was 4 yrs old. sometimes my left eye goes inward but im not totally blind in my left eye . I can read the letters on keyboard from my left eye but not so clearly. I heard about some chinese doing some magnetic treatment to cure it upto 70%. Hope some we have the cure.
hey people, I really hate this amblyopia since it has prevented me from doing what I always wanted to do since I was little e. police officer and military helicopter pilot. Now I am just in the military but not a pilot, Sid this is what I found on the magnetic treatment so far but if anyone else has more information please let me know, i feel that its unfair that im able to serve and go to war 2 times with my condition yet I cannot become a police officer and live a normal life with a normal job that I would like. I am stressed! I have amblyopia in my left eye about 20/200 I see everything frosty and blury, I had this since I remember but i notice that I have good pheripeal vision I am able to see but not clear. If anyone has a cure please contact me lu1srgza@hotmail.com please
http://www.eye-patch-info.com/adult-amblyopia-cure.html
Hi Guys,
I am 27 female affected by amblyopia. My mom took me to the doctor at the age of 8 to get my crossed eye corrected. I then discovered that i had catarat and also suffering from amblyopia. I tried the eye patch like most of you but that did not work. I cant see the big E on the Eye chart from my left Eye so I have pretty much masted the art of ignoring my left eye. I am worried because my right eyes are not perfect either as i also had cataract surgery in my Right eye. It is really frustrating living with strabismus as it affects my confidence and as i result i am just not a happy person. I am however grateful for the vison I have in my right eye.
I am planning to do strabismus surgery soon to see if I can get my eyes to align better. I would like know however if anyone has/had cataract with they amblyopia. I did a cataract surgury at the age of 12 on my strabismus eye but had no was lens implanted. Do you know if a lense implant would help my lazy eye to aligh better. Please share your experiences as it relates to cataract with ambylopia and strabismus. Thanks for all the post, it really helps to know that other are feeling the same way as i am..
In elementary school i noticed my left eye didn’t work too well during the eye tests i told them this year after year and my parents learned only after it was too late. So my parents took me to an optometrist and i was told nothing could be done. A few years later i realized i want a career in the us military but learned that only one eye with 20 vision is not enough, my other eye being 200. so i searched the hell out of the internet. I am 15 and i think there is hope but there is nothing in my region to help.
I have amblyopia in my left eye, have since I was a small toddler. At any rate, I cant exactly say it impares my vision, because i just never saw straight through my left eye to begin with. I only focus and see things out of my right eye, and if i cover my right eye, my left eye has 20/200 vision. Scary. At any rate, what I HAVE noticed lately is that when i am tired, my amblyopic eye wanders, it never did that before. Also, I’m getting more and more headaches the older I get. (I’m 34) *Sigh* I’m a little nervous about all of this.
I have just turned 22 and have been wearing glasses since I was about 9. I was told I have a Lazy Eye and I patched for a while but it showed little signs of improvement. I am currently in the system with a Lasik Surgery establishment in order to correct my vision so I may persue a career as a Navy SEAL after I enlist. I was told my right eye is Amblyoptic and that it is impossible to cure. Since I was six it has been my burning dream to be a US Navy SEAL and I am willing to undergo any means of therapy, surgery anything in order to strengthen my eye and qualify for Lasik surgery to recieve 20/20 vision. Any ifnormation that anyone can provide I would be of the utmost grateful..I’ll do anything.
To Joseph,
You should check out “Fixing my Gaze” by Susan Barry, aka Stereo Sue. Loads of info on the net about this book.
Here’s one quote:
In 1992 Bruce Wick and colleagues published a study in which dramatic improvements in acuity of the amblyopic eye as well as binocular vision were obtained in anisometropic amblyopes with the proper glasses, part-time occlusion, and vision therapy. This study contrasted with published results by Meyer and colleagues, who found that occlusin treatment alone produced improvements only in patients under ten years of age. The difference between these two studies was the use of vision therapy.
List of studies follows……….
Also, check out Light-adjustable lenses (LAL), which won’t give you 20/20 vision in your amblyopic eye but it might be useful for your other eye:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=Light-adjustable%20lenses%20(LAL)
Joseph,
I have the same eye problems as you do, and am also trying to enlist in the Navy, tho my dream was to work for the Nurse Corps.
My recruiter said it is possible to get a waiver, but everything I am reading points the other way saying strabismus limits a Sailor’s “global mobility”… whatever that means. Thus far, it’s been a frustrating process because it seems like the rules are pretty arbitrary on waivers.
Let me know how things are going for you… Best of luck.
Hey all,
I haven’t posted on here in awhile, but have continued looking for cures or positive developments, but haven’t had much success. I sent out an email to Dr. Benjamin Thompson, the Dr. from the 2008 article on repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation as a possible cure.
http://www.eye-patch-info.com/adult-amblyopia-cure.html
Thought I would share his response so we can all keep the faith that researchers and doctors are still trying! Also, they are looking for volunteers if anyone is from the Canada area. Here’s the response I received:
“Hello,
My Name is Simon clavagnier. I’m the one who has replaced Dr ben thompson since he moved to Oakland, New Zealand.
Every treatments I’m aware of so far are still in an experimental state and their chances of success are not yet 100%.
in our lab we are currently running two complemantary research paradigms about putative treatment:
on one side there is the magnetic brain stimulation you were refering to.
the improvements we made sionce the 2008 paper are to decrease the duration of the stimulation: from 15 min to 40 sec and to increase the duration of the effect (two weeks or even one month). A lot of things remains to be done.
On the other side, we created a new visual training based on videogame (TETRIS) using an Ipod. the training is about teaching the brain to use the information of the two eyes in order to perform the game. the volunteer can not do the game if his does use only one eye.
As still experimental (and for a long time), they are only available in our place (Montreal, Canada). But we are always searching for new volunteers.
If You don’t live too far from from Montreal we would be please to meet you.
Best regards,
Simon clavagnier “
Also, if anyone has heard of any updated cures or research I would love to hear about it! It’s always good to have contacts! You can feel free to email me at rlesposito@gmail.com!
Like I said, I haven’t posted in awhile…but I’m a 28 year old with amblyopia in my left eye that really ruins my life. Like everyone else here, I’m eager to keep faith and find a cure! Hope to hear from some of you!
Rob
When the Dr says “effect” what does he mean? Fusion?
Hey CosX,
Not 100% sure…I was thinking he meant the duration of treatment…like you would have it done every day for 2 weeks to a month…but not sure about that.
Hi All,
My husband is 55 and has Amblyopia in his left eye since birth and never got detected until it was too late in his teens to do anything about it., Unfortunately, two months ago my husband had a stroke to his right good eye, some plaque from his coradid artery broke loose and went to his only functioning good eye., we were very lucky it did not go to the brain. He had what you call a Central Retina Artery Occlusion and is the most devasting in the Opthamology world as it causes sudden blindness with no cure. He has very limited vision in the Amblyopia eye, as I am sure you all can understand., luckily for this limited vision he can atleast get around without bumping into things, and has also with the help of his friends, is even golfing again, they help him to see where his ball is going and help him angle himself right. This has been devastating to him and our family. He was a very healthy active 55 year old and now his driving has been taken away, tv is limited to the technology that we have put in place and he works with the help of readers and magnifiers to assist him but life will never be the same for him. If anyone out there knows of any non-invasive treatments for the Amplyopia eye, please contact me. He cannot have any surgery as he cannot afford to lose what little vision he has, he would then be completely blind so surgery is completely out. Again, if anyone knows of something please contact me., I search day and night and cannot find anything to help him. Thank you all for your posts, they really help.
Hey guys,
Just curious, what types of prescription glasses do you wear? Single Vision, progressive, bifocals? I’m having some issues with my glasses and was curious what others in my situation are wearing? Thanks!
Beverly, I asked Dr. Ken Koslowe about your husband’s plight. Dr. Koslowe is a Behavioral and Developmental Optometrist who treats patients and works in vision research in Israel. Here is what he said:
“Vision Therapists have been treating adult amblyopes for the past 45 years at least. All that time Ophthalmology opposed and ridiculed us (you can’t teach an old dog [eye] new tricks, was one of their favorites). I published a study in 1977 proving that such treatment was effective and still Ophthalmology would not bend. In the recent number of years a new “discovery” was made, you CAN treat adult amblyopes! It is true that those pushing this theory (backed by Ophthalmology) feel they have discovered this and therefore theirs is the only treatment but this is patently false.
The Neurovision or recently renamed RevitalVision method is one more (and IMHO no more than that) tool in treating amblyopia (at any age). Age 6 never was a barrier to treating amblyopia and still is not. My oldest successful amblyope started treatment at age 65.
By the way one of the most effective treatments of amblyopia may be total loss of vision in the good eye. So my advice, seek treatment, preferrably from a VT specialist.”
You learn more about vision development and therapy here:
http://www.covd.org
To find a COVD doctor, use this link (copy and paste if too long for your browser.)
http://www.covd.org/DoctorSearchResults/tabid/69/Default.aspx?adv=1
You can also find these links and many more in the sidebar of this and every page of our website.
Best wishes,
Lois
Lois,
Thank you so much for the information, I will certainly check it out.
Thanks again,
Beverly
Beverly, you can also join our Eyes Apart email support group at Yahoo if you would like. Details are in the top right corner of this and every page of the site. Most everyone there is either an adult with strabismus or amblyopia, or a parent of a child with this condition. We understand.
Dr. Koslowe posts there quite a lot, and usually tries to answer direct questions to him in the gtoup.
You’d certainly be welcome there!
Lois
hello Lois
You mentioned before that got exotropia(means mild strabismus if im right) so i wonder why didnt regained full binocular vision under vision therapy you passed
thank you for answer ahead
Carl, exotropia means outward drift of one of both eyes, whether mild or severe.
There are a number of reasons vision therapy has not fully worked for me. Mainly that I have not been able to stick with vision therapy as I would have liked. I have other major health issues, and in fact am having surgery to correct some of that on Monday (Feb. 8).
This health problem is not directly related to strabismus, but it definitely affects my control of it. I’m hoping to be able to get back to vision therapy later this year, and eventually to share more on the main pages of the blog.
Lois
thank You for quick answer ,i hope surgery will be successful and vt work for You ,i asked You because i want take vt training and i wondered why it didnt work for You
best wishes Lois
Hello Lois
id like to contact directly to dr.Ken Koslowe so could You ask him and pass me his email address ,id be very grateful
thank You
Carl, go to the top right corner of this page or any page of this site and join our Eyes Apart Strabismus Support Yahoo email group. Dr. Koslowe responds frequently to member questions in that group, especially those with words “Dr. Koslowe,” in subject, and you can ask questions directly to him in that forum. You can also ask him if he minds if you write to him directly. He is very generous to help.
Lois
Carl, you are welcome for my response to your question of why my VT did not work as well as hoped. Thanks for good wishes. I’m still in recovery from my surgery but progressing nicely. Am hoping to resume VT sometime during spring and expecting good results.
Lois
yes yes yes, i’m 18, patched for a couple months and got my eye from 20/100 to 20/20 with a computer program patching 4 hours a day. no i have to do therapy to get my eyes to fuse the images together.
Zac,
Can you please provide details about those programs? How did you got those? I am 37 yr old and my weak eye vision is slightly better than 20/40 but i would like to try and see if i can improve it.
Hi Stacey, I realize you posted to this board over 2 years ago and probably haven’t looked back since, but you are the only other person I’ve read who also experiences the blackout in the Amblyopic eye. I have Ocular MG, and am now wondering if that is a symptom related to Ocular MG. Don’t want to worry you but maybe thats what you have too?
Hello,
I’m 28 y old and I have amblyopia in my left eye (20/200) and perfect vision in the other one. I researched the internet and found the the study made in China with trans-cranial magnetic stimulation is quite promising. I will also try vision software I just recently acquired. Will get back to you if I get results.
Hello Lois (admin)
Thank you for help in getting Kens email ,how did help your surgery ,i hope you are satisfied and can go for delayed vision therpay ,i am going for one very soon but still do other eyes exercises helping my eyes .I got a question ,i had a chat lataley with well known scientist and was told that if i got 20/20 vision i am not amblyopic ,is it true .I dont think so ,because ophthalmologists who examined my eyes told me i have amblyopia ,although 20/20 vision ,but i feel one eye is lazy and doesnt work at all when use both eyes .Please for an answer ,i very appreciate your help
I wish you all the best Lois
Victor,
Any improvement with that vision software? I see that revital vision has launched treatment for adult amblyopia in USA. Are you talking about the same software?
Yes, I’m talking about Revital. Didn’t start yet. But will get back with the results. They told me that the vision will improve greatly. An average of more than 2 lines on the chart.
Greetings to all.
It’s amazing to me that there are so many of us struggling with the same condition. My anisometropia-amblyopia wasn’t caught until I was a teenager. I didn’t fully understand the implications of the condition until I was in college and was struggling with headaches, nausea, and dizziness that made it hard to keep up in class. As the first generation of my family to have any access to health care at all, my parents didn’t know what to look for and as my vision deteriorated, we didn’t really understand what was happening. To make a long story short, after being told a number of times that there was no treatment/cure for my visual impairment and that my vision would just get worse/lead to blindness, I found a vision clinic where the doctors were willing to treat me at age 23 and used the vision therapies normally given to children to improve my vision to 20/40. Amazing! It took many months of weekly visits, patching, eye exercises, etc and I still have to do maintenance therapy since at the old age of 23 the system isn’t as plastic as it is in kids. But I’m 36 now and with a few summers of additional therapy, I’m still at 20/40 and my nausea, headaches, dizziness, and tiredness are improved to the point where I can deal with the current level of symptoms without negative impact to work or other parts of life. Here are the two clinics where I was treated, there may be others in your area. The key is to look for optometrists who specialize in binocular vision deficits:
Binocular Vision Clinic at UC Berkeley: http://www.caleyecare.org/clinicframe.html
Southern California College of Optometry: http://www.sccoeyecare.com/visiontherapy/index.html
Hi Belinda,
Great news and story. Can you tell me what was your initial vision in the amblyopic eye? Was it 20/200 or 20/100 etc. and what kind of exercises did you do?
Thank a lot!
Hi Victor,
Prior to finding the vision therapy, the amblyopic eye was 20/200 after correction. Uncorrected, I think it past 20/400 — no big E on the Snellen chart.
The vision therapy really consisted of the same things they have children do. Basically, they just treated me as though I’d been caught while young enough to benefit. So I did a lot of patching, convergence therapies where I tried to make the pictures of two animals become one picture (I remember giraffes and elephants. Did I mention that they gave me the same therapies as children?), polarized lenses to track whether both eyes or just one was being used, and another set of lenses to practice near and far focus. I’m not going to lie — I totally get why children have trouble with compliance. It was nauseating, headache inducing, and after an appointment my day was always shot because my head would just hurt too badly to do anything but lie still for the rest of the day. But it worked!
Hi Belinda,
Thank you so much for your reply. I have 20/200 (can see the big E) and perfect vision in the other eye. Great news.
Can you detail more the exercises?
I bought vision therapy software and I’m thinking about working very hard since it made a difference for you. Besides I’m close to your age.
Once again, thanks a lot!
Hi Victor,
No worries, I’m glad to share if it helps!
It sounds like you’ll be starting out from a better place than I did. I am not familiar with vision therapy software, but having the doctors guide the exercises based on my specific abilities and progress was really important for me. Plus, it gave structure and made me follow through.
From what I recall, it started with patching for segments of time until the amblyopic eye started to try to see again, then convergence exercises that focused on trying to fuse 2 images into the proper 1 image, then near-far exercises to strengthen focus, and then various polarized lens exercises for reading/TV watching so I could practice and track whether I was using both eyes or just one. The doctors also let me purchase some of the tools so I could keep them after the official therapy sessions ended.
Victor,
Have you started using the software? Is it improving your vision?
I am 61 years old and remember squinting in high school. My right eye started drifing in after staring as in photographs. About 10 years ago I asked the optomatrist for computer glasses & he laughed and said they don’t exhist. Amblopia has progressed to where I am cross eyed all the time except at close range….the worst part is the stars & expression on people’s faces. It cuts me to the bone. In this day and age it is difficult to believe that there is no fix. Sad.
Yes, little by little….it is hard work but I am pleased so far.
Also have a look at what Belinda said…
Ryan, I have been searching for a Dr. Richard Collier that used to have an office in Waxahachie Texas just south of Dallas. Do you know if this is the same guy. When I attended Bible College in Waxahachie he was my eye doctor and helped me like no other. I have not found any doctors like him since. I know that he left Waxahachie to go elsewhere but I have not been able to locate where.
Victor,
Any significant progress with revital vision treatment?
Thanks.
My daughter is 12, we have seen a lot of doctors. Last doctor told me there was no need for her to even wear glasses anymore,except for protection. She is(20/200)in her right eye and the other is normal. Is this normal procedure for amblyopic’s ?
Anna’s Mom,
I have the same situation (amblyopia – 20/200 in right eye) and have had multiple doctors indicate the same thing to me since I was 17. One doctor revealed that the best improvement with the glasses will bring vision to 20/160. I hope this addresses your concern.
Cody
hi, im 17 years old and i have amblyopia. i hope a can find a treatment or something that can help me.
dave
i hope you can give more info about zoloft
There have been many posts on treating amblyopia in older children and even adults. This is found in the allaboutvision.com webs site.
…Older children and even adluts with long-standing lazy eye can benefit from amblyopia treatment using computer programs that stimulate neural changes leading to improvements in visual acuity and contrast sensitivity.
One such program — called RevitalVision — has produced improved vision in older children with lazy eye and adults with long-standing amblyopia. The treatment generally consists of 40 training sessions of 40 minutes each, conducted over a period of several weeks.
In one clinical study of 44 amblyopic children and adults ranging in age from 9 to 54 years, 70.5 percent of the participants had a visual acuity improvement of 2 or more lines on a standardized eye chart after a full regimen of RevitalVision training sessions.
Currently, RevitalVision is the only FDA-approved computerized treatment for amblyopia. The program is approved for individuals age 9 and older with best corrected vision of 20/100 or better and little or no strabismus.
Other computer programs to treat lazy eye also are available and in use by eye doctors who specialize in children’s vision and vision therapy.
Thank you, Dennis, for mentioning that people “…with long-standing lazy eye can benefit from amblyopia treatment using computer programs that stimulate neural changes leading to improvements in visual acuity and contrast sensitivity.”
I appreciate also your calling your product, RevitalVision, “One such program…” rather than posing it as the only product available in this area. That is in keeping with the spirit of this website, as we try to be fair to all. I consulted Dr. Ken Koslowe regarding a subscriber’s need earlier this year, and he mentioned RevitalVision also, and seemed in agreement with your “one such program” statement: “…The Neurovision or recently renamed RevitalVision method is one more (and IMHO no more than that) tool in treating amblyopia (at any age).” Click here for that full comment.
In the interest of fairness, I would also like to mention that my doctor prescribed the HTS program for me, and I’ve been helped by it. I do not have amblyopia, but this company also has a computerized amblyopia program (see visiontherapysolutions.net). My doctor is keeping me on HTS, but said she is prescribing a different program for new patients now – not because it is better for patients, but because it works better for following patients on her end. Perhaps her current choice could even be your program, I’m not sure.
In the end, the program patients are prescribed will likely depend on which program their doctors consider best.
Your professionalism in presenting RevitalVision, Dennis, speaks very well for your product! Thank you.
Lois
Hello Everyone,
I am Rajesh from India..Please go through my case study and let me know is there any hope??…
I was not having any type of eye problem uptil the age of 8 yrs and and my eyesight was 6/6 in both the eyes which is measurement unit in Indian terms for normal eyes
My case is
1)At the age of 8 I have a sharp blow from the edge of a wall to the corner of my left forehead corner which made my enitre body full of blood.That day was the most sadest day in my entire life of 28 years.If god exists I would ask him please bring back that day of my life or do rewind so that I can reconcile my mistake that I have done on that day.
2)Gradually in mean period within 1 year my left eye vision started declining and to say truly I was ignoring that what was happening in my eye and not reported to my parents.But the thing lateron my parents noticed that my left eye has developed squint.i.e.moving outward side direction…and the time when they noticed it…I have completely lost my vision…with mere sight
3)At the age of 10 I have undergone the squint operation and doctor told that whatever there may be improvement in vision it will be naturally and yeah he has given me glasses of minus 3.5..Jokes apart there was a mild improvement in my vison without a strong depth perception.
4)At the age of 14 I have noticed that I have developed the double vision phenomena with exisiting mild vision and or term it as a LAZY EYE.
5)The most important thing here I want to mention is that I am not able to see from the centre of left EYE.And whenever I try to see from centre, my brain focus or percieves the right eye information and that appears blind if my right eye is closed.My brain accepts images only when I have to squint it or turn far left to see from the side.To get more clear image squintness increases and offcourse uptil certain level.I hope you people have understand what I am trying to say..Brian does not accept any image from center of left eye..and when try …the concentration moves to right eye.
6)One more thing to say that I have noticed that I have better vision in left eye eventhough being a double vison when both the eyes are open.
7)Couple of years back when I have tested to other opthalmalogist..she has told me this problem i.e.Temporal Pollar..
8)Right now I am 28 is there any hope that My left eye can be cured uptil certain extent…
Please let me know.
With Regards,
Rajesh
MY Yahoo mail id is jha_rajesh22@yahoo.co.in
Victor,
Have you completee revital vision program? Any significant improvements? I am interested in that program but want to wait for some reference.
Thanks.
Dev,
I just saw your post and was wondering how the therapy went. I’m 59 and have had an amlyopic left eye all my life. I did the patching as a child and had surgery to straighten the eye at 2. I’m not sure what the vision in the left eye is 20/100, I think. Please let me know if the vision therapy worked for you.