Little Miss Four-Eyes

Time to put on your learning caps, boys and girls! We’re going to be learning all about amblyopia today. For us not so smart folks out there, amblyopia is just a fancy way of saying “lazy eye,” a problem that can sometimes occur in children. In a child with lazy eye, one of the eyes has a different quality of vision than the other. That eye may produce weaker or more distorted images than the other eye. Therefore, the brain learns over time to start ignoring that eye and begins to only accept images from the stronger eye.

One cause of amblyopia is strabismus (cross-eyes). Children with strabismus often have double vision and try to correct for this by focusing with one eye more than the other. One type of strabismus is called esotropia. In esotropia, one eye is turned towards the nose while the other eye looks forward.

Accommodative esotropia is a type of esotropia that is caused by farsightedness. The usual onset of accommodative esotropia is between 2-3 years of age and occurs in approximately 1.2% of all children by the age of 7.

Bifocal glasses are usually prescribed to correct the crossing of the eye in accommodative esotropia. Eye patches are also sometimes used to cover the stronger eye to force the child to use and strengthen the other eye. If the glasses control the crossing of the eyes, eye surgery is not recommended.

The degree of farsightedness will often increase gradually until about 8 years of age. By the time they are teens, some children may no longer need glasses to keep their eyes straight, while others will need to continue wearing corrective lens even as adults.

As you may have figured out, I'm writing all this because Caitlyn was recently diagnosed with accommodative esotropia. Pop quiz! Do you still remember what that is without looking?

While it does suck that she is part of the 1.2% that has this condition, I have to admit that she does look super scholarly and bookish. Something that I’m sure Harvard holds in high esteem. Plus, with all the practice she had wearing those pink heart-shaped glasses of hers, Caitlyn isn’t the least bit bothered by wearing the real ones. Secretly, I can't wait to get her a pair like Harry Potter to wear. But the best part is, now she can look just like Mommy and Daddy!

Our doctor says Caitlyn will probably be wearing the corrective glasses for a year before her eye straightens out, but according to what I've read, farsightedness gradually increases until you’re about 8 years old, which is probably the earliest Caitlyn will be able to stop wearing glasses. I tried telling this to the wife, but she said she’ll believe the doctor over me. Guess I’ll have to patiently wait a few years before I can say, “In yo’ face, woman! I told you so!”