Lazy eye is also known as Amblyopia.
Lazy eye is an early childhood condition where a child's eyesight in one eye
does not develop as it should. When an individual has Amblyopia the brain
focuses on one eye more than the other, virtually ignoring the lazy eye. If
that eye is not stimulated properly the visual brain cells do not mature
normally.
The term lazy eye is inaccurate,
because the eye is not lazy. In fact, it would probably be more accurate to say
lazy brain, because it is a developmental problem in the brain, not an organic
problem in the eye. lazy eye can also be hereditary.
A child with lazy eye will not be
able to focus properly with one of their eyes. The other eye will make up for
the problem, so much that the affected eye will suffer as a result. The eye with
impaired vision (Amblyopia) may not receive clear images; the brain won't receive
clear data, double vision can occur, and eventually the brain will start to ignore input from the lazy eye. (source: Medical News Today
Sept. 19, 2009) As time goes on the lazy eye may not be used by the brain to see with resulting loss of vision as an adult.
Some children can have an intermittent lazy eye that only
appears some of the time. It can be difficult to get diagnosed or get help if
each time a parent takes their child to the professionals the lazy eye
disappears. If the lazy eye seems to come and go you should look at stressors in
the child's life. Stress will cause a lazy eye to either appear or get worse.
Integrating Primitive Childhood Reflexes decreasing emotional stress, and removal of food that a child is intolerant to can decrease the overall stress on the
child's brain and nervous system which can in turn decrease the occurrence of a
lazy eye in some cases.
