Amblyopia Treatment

Depending on the type of amblyopia, treatment options differ. The mainstay of treatment for many years has been to patch the “good” eye to force the “bad,” or amblyopic, eye to develop.

While patching is still often very necessary, new research has shown that although amblyopia has traditionally been thought to affect only one eye, the treatment needs to be binocular, that is treating both eyes together. Refractive amblyopia must first be treated by correcting the degree of refractive error (amount of glasses prescription needed) in each eye so that one does not have to work harder than the other. In both refractive and strabismic amblyopia, the next step in treatment is to create situations that will enable the two eyes the opportunity to develop the ability to function together in a coordinated way.

For extremely young children that require patching who may have difficulty wearing an eye patch, other options include prescription eye drops that blur the near vision in the child’s strong eye. This forces the brain to use the weak eye strengthening the visual pathways to improve its degree of vision. These eye drops do have side effects that must be considered before use. Most eye doctors will consider other options first.