Eyes Apart: Living with strabismus

Seeing beyond strabismus

When I updated my post-surgery status on April 12, things weren’t looking very good, literally. My January 12 strabismus surgery had originally taken me from a torsion to near perfect vision. But my vision had deteriorated over the next few weeks, leaving me with a hypertropia, and my eye/brain connection couldn’t keep up. It was very difficult for me to do anything that required me to focus at close-up. My vision was worse than it had ever been.

But that was before the latest set of events. I could not keep up at work because of my deteriorating ability to focus, and my boss started seeking a replacement for me in mid-April. They allowed me to stay on until my replacement could be found and trained. My last day at my job was June 15. As things slowed down at work for me, my eyes were not as strained. I also got some new prism glasses that made a huge difference. Lastly, I had a sleep study done and am on cpap for my sleep apnea now, and that has helped my eyes also.

I’m doing much better as long as I don’t overuse my eyes. I still have to stop and let them rest often. I have also developed some shortness of breath with activity related to an old injury (that’s also causing my sleep apnea), so it works out pretty good. I work on the computer until my eyes get tired, then I work on projects around the house until I get short of breath. By then my eyes are rested enough to go back to the computer for awhile!

I’m looking at work possibilities, and what I may be able to do to provide income. I’m planning to do some things from home to earn income for now. I’m also doing vision therapy from home now. Meanwhile I’m very thankful for the improvements in my vision and my relief from sleep apnea!

Photo credit: Dolamore

Posted in Lois' story, Prism glasses, Strabismus surgery | 6 Comments »

Fixing the inner problem of strabismus: which direction is best?

Eunice from Singapore writes:

Hi, Greetings from Singapore. I am very worried about my son age 3+ now, his eyes is always drifting away when he’s tried or ill. I guess that called Strabismus, right ? Any cured or treatment for him, he’s so young at age. i consulted a eye specialist , he suggest operations to aline the eyeballs, but i am much worried its just a cosmetic appearance and the inner problem not sloved, please advise.

Eunice, this is the difficult question those of us with strabismus face. Many of us have felt very alone as we struggled with which way to go. Thankfully we are finding each other now on places like Eyes Apart. But it is still confusing because eye care professionals don’t agree on what is the best treatment for strabismus.

The thinking behind aligning the eyes as perfectly as possible by surgery is that it enables the brain to direct them together as a unit more easily. On the other hand, doctors who treat strabismus with special exercises (vision therapy) believe that the solution is re-teaching the brain how to direct the eyes. There is lots of controversy about these two most popular treatments for strabismus.

The one thing most everyone is in agreement on is that treatment needs to start early. If treatment can be provided when a child is young, before his or her vision patterns have matured, it is easier to establish correct vision.

You can talk with people who have strabismus or other parents who have faced similar questions in our email support group. See Eyes Apart Strabismus Support Group for more information.

Photo credit: G�zde Otman

Posted in Children's vision, Strabismus surgery, Treatment, Vision therapy | 1 Comment »

Stereo versus monocular vision through Anthony’s eyes

–written by anthony d’agostino
for permissions see end of item

If people truly had zero depth perception, how could they function? Everything could be like that game you play when you were a kid where you hold the moon in between your two fingers. Or that “Kids in the Hall” skit, where the guy looks through his fingers and says “I’m crushing your head!” and then he squeezes the people on the street people between his finger and thumb. But people can tell when things are distant or near..one eye or two

But there is more to depth perception that stereo-vision. Objects that are further away get lighter in color and can be hazier than objects that are closer to you. There are also differences in size and proportion.

People who see with one eye could learn to rely on these cues to a greater degree than those who use two eyes.

My exotropia was alternating and intermittent from the time I was 7 until my late teens when it became nearly permanent. I would always choose one eye or the other..and I kept the ability to pull them in for photographs or first meeting people.

When I did the binocular vision tests in the Ophthalmologist’s office, looking with one eye…the objects on the card did not pop-out at all. When I consciously pulled my eyes in prior to surgery…the letters and (in my case it happened to be) insects jumped off the card like a 3-d movie. It was at a hospital mainly for children..so everything was Elmo! and Finding Nemo..and cute animals and bugs!

For me…the difference between stereo-vision and monocular vision is: The front of a curved brown-stone building in Boston, is more curved. The texture of grass appears more “grass like,” and detailed. The shadows and highlights that help to illustrate the edges of textures is more evident. From my perspective, I am able to perceive more of the “aliveness” and “tension” contained in the object I am viewing when I am using both eyes. The variation in tones is more evident to me and the curvature of things.

I sometimes thought of my strabismus-vision as a string that was de-tuned. Sorry for the synaesthesic analogy, but when the string sounded..it was flat. After surgery…my larger field of vision seems to just “float” in front of me, more like a taut string, ready to resonate.

Maybe there are two headlights illuminating the distant object now instead of just one.

Essay and Photo credits: Written by anthony d’agostino (anthony_dagostino AT yahoo DOT com) in our EyesApart email support group, used here by permission; Photo by Herman Hooyschuur.

Posted in Stereo, 3d, depth, Strabismus surgery | 4 Comments »

Stereoscopes, 3-d stereo binocular vision, and Vision Therapy

Ever since Charles Wheatstone invented the Stereoscope using mirrors in the 1830’s, people have been fascinated with 3-dimentional stereoscopic vision and depth perception.

The New Yorker published a very interesting article called Stereo Sue about 10 months ago. You’ll want to read the entire abstract (linked above), but here is a synopsis: According to the abstract, Sue was born cross-eyed, and had surgeries that failed to correct her lack of stereo or binocular vision. The story continues that 25 years later, in 2002 when Sue was in her late 40’s, she began vision therapy in spite of being told by doctors that vision therapy would not help. According to The New Yorker, her ability to see with 3-dimentional vision “was immediate and dramatic.” The abstract indicates that “without early binocular experiences” the mechanisms that allow binocular vision are probably not available to be “reactivated later.”

If you’re interested in building your own stereoscope, I found an interesting article that explains more about stereoscopes, and how to build several different types of stereoscopes. See:
Let’s Build a Stereoscope

Want to find a doctor who provides Vision Therapy to help restore binocular stereoscopic vision? Click the Find vision thereapy dr. link here or in the right toolbar under “Vision-Related Organizations.”

Photo Credit: “A closeup of a leaf” by Stefan Vasilev; Stereoscope photo by Joaquim Alves Gaspar is published under a Creative Commons License at Wikipedia.

Posted in Just for fun, Stereo, 3d, depth, Vision therapy | No Comments »

Strabismus surgery in older adults: for better or for worse?

As I aged, my strabismus took its toll. The time I was able to focus to read or do close-up work became shorter and shorter. My major goal for surgery was to at least partly restore my ability to read for an extended amount of time. My surgeon felt we sould be able to accomplish this. Unfortunately that didn’t happen for me. Instead, after my first strabismus surgery in May of 2005, I had a torsion in one eye.

My second strabismus surgery, to correct the torsion, was done on January 4, 2007. Right after the surgery, things seemed much better. But by mid-March, my vision started rapidly falling apart again. I have the torsion still, as well as the exotropia. In addition, I now have a significant hypertropia (vertical double vision), and my exotropia has changed to a V pattern, which means I see better when I bend my head downward.

I’ve not been able to get back in to see my surgeon since the day after the surgery, as his schedule has not permitted it. I have my first post-op visit end of this month (April). My local Developmental Optometrist has been working with me with some vision therapy exercises I can do at home. But the vision therapy is much harder now than it was before my surgery.

My surgeon is highly recommended. He writes regularly for Ophthalmology journals, and is very knowledgeable in his field. I’ve heard many good stories about him. He did his best for me, but it just hasn’t worked.

On 11/18/05, About.com shared details of a study published in the Journal of American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS). The study focused on the success of Strabismus surgery in older adults, and noted that adults as old as 90 can be helped with this surgery.

But the only way to approach Strabismus surgery is to take it for better or for worse. If it is better, as it seems to be for many, that will be wonderful. But if it is worse, be prepared to accept the challenge and continue onward. Life is a lot more than what I see. It is who I am and who God is teaching me to be. Life is exciting, it is bigger than strabismus, and great to be part of it, so lets roll!

Update 6-23-07 — My strabismus much better now. I just posted a report to the blog: Seeing beyond strabismus

Photo credit: Phil Beard

Posted in Lois' story, Senior vision, Strabismus surgery, Vision therapy | No Comments »