How to Deal with Squints (Strabismus): Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment

Squint, or strabismus, is a condition in which the eyes cannot align properly. It generally occurs when the muscles that control the eye movement, the eyelid, and the extraocular muscles do not work in-sync. Coordination of the eyes is partial or alternating between the two eyes.

Causes

Some people are born with a squint or strabismus, and others develop one later in life. The exact cause of a squint eye may not always be known.

Squints in Adults

• New occurrence or a reappearance of childhood strabismus
• Caused due to thyroid disease, diabetes, myasthenia gravis, brain tumors, strokes, head trauma, etc.

Squints in Children

• Congenital Squint (hereditary). It is caused by genetic conditions such as Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, retinoblastoma.
• Due to long-sightedness or double vision.
• Viral fever, measles, and meningitis can also cause squint or strabismus. Injury to the nerves.

Symptoms

The major symptom of squint is that the eyes do not look in the same direction simultaneously. Other symptoms include:

• Double vision
• Eye fatigue
• Hazy vision
• Difficulty while reading
• Inability to perceive depth
• A continuous pulling feeling in the region of the eyes
• Inability to make straight eye contact while looking at the people with both eyes

Diagnosis

The orthoptist or optometrist should assess squint to:

• Establish the amount and type of squint
• Test for binocular vision
• Fundus examination including fixation pattern

Treatment

The squint treatment options include:

• Squint eye exercises: Retrain the eyes to focus inward together where eyes cannot align themselves for reading or doing close work.

• Prism eyeglasses: For mild to moderate double vision.

• Patching/Occluding the good eye: The weaker eye is encouraged to work harder with visual activities like coloring and reading with an eye-patch.

• Botulinum toxin injection (Botox): This is injected in a muscle on the eye surface. This squint treatment is recommended if no underlying cause can be identified and if signs and symptoms appear suddenly. The injection weakens the injected muscle to help the eyes to align properly temporarily.

• Squint surgery: It is a typical squint treatment. A highly specialized surgery is necessary for adults to treat it. Doctors surgically tighten, loosen, or reposition eye muscles to reinstate the alignment of the eyes.

Benefits of Squint Correction Surgery

The surgery takes a day and does not need hospitalization since it is an external surgery.

• Straight eye gaze
• Decreased eye fatigue
• Decreased double vision
• Better cosmetic appeal
• Expanded side vision
• Maintaining binocular vision and depth perception

Sometimes double vision may occur after surgery. It is generally a temporary problem, which lasts for a few weeks.

Our team of eye specialists understands the need for the utmost care and treatment of your eyes by giving a personalized strabismus diagnosis. Please contact Netralayam, Kolkata, if you have any queries on squints or strabismus.

FAQs

1. How can squint be corrected?

   Contrary to the general opinion among people that the squint is a permanent condition and cannot be corrected, a squint correction surgery can straighten the eyes at any age. An early diagnosis of strabismus will enable effective treatment through squint correction surgery. Squint treatment options also include corrective glasses, squint eye exercises, patching, botulinum toxin injections.

2. How do you know if you have squint eyes?

   • Difficulty in making direct eye contact.
   • Impossible to have binocular vision making it harder for the person to have depth perception.
   • Double vision, short and long-sightedness, eye fatigue, blurred vision, difficulty in reading.

3. How can I fix squint eyes naturally?

   Squint or strabismus in the eyes can be treated naturally through eye muscle exercises, prism eyeglasses, and using eye patches or occluding the good eye.

4. Does squint increase with age?

   Never ignore a squint that happens all the time because it could cause further problems, if left untreated, such as persistent blurred or double vision.