Can LASIK Correct A Lazy Eye?

Do you suffer from “amblyopia,” or as it’s more commonly known, a “lazy eye?” This is a fairly frustrating condition in that it can alter someone’s ability to properly use both eyes. Essentially, this is caused by the brain and the eye not working together properly. In its early stages, amblyopia looks fairly normal: the eye appears to be functioning properly, but the brain is actually favoring the other eye. Over time, this causes the un-favored eye to begin to lose control and veer out of alignment.

Primary Causes Of A Lazy Eye

There are two primary causes of amblyopia: misaligned eyes, and a major difference in the amount of refractive error between the eyes. When your eyes are misaligned (a condition known as strabismus), the brain automatically shuts off input from the misaligned eye and begins to favor the other in order to avoid headache-inducing and debilitating double-vision. In the second instance, when one eye has a significantly greater defect and requires greater correction than the other, the brain will essentially
do the same thing and start ignoring it, which could lead to the eye becoming lazy and vision being reduced from it.

Can LASIK Treat It?

In most cases, no. LASIK can fix a number of problems but damage caused by amblyopia is not one of them. However, LASIK could eliminate the problems that can cause amblyopia, in essence becoming an effective treatment.

Let’s look at an example. Say both of your eyes work well, only your right eye is significantly more nearsighted than your left, requiring your right eye to have a much stronger prescription to correct it than the other. This actually makes it extremely difficult to wear regular glasses since the magnification levels will be so dramatically different, leading to a nauseating experience and the development of amblyopia over time.

LASIK surgery can treat nearsightedness. In this way, a LASIK treatment could actually stop amblyopia from ever forming, thus making it an effective method of treatment, although it’s more preventative than anything.

LASIK generally can’t help those who already suffer from problems pertaining to a lazy eye, but those who start to discover the symptoms of a lazy eye early on can possibly find relief through this revolutionary new treatment.

Schedule your LASIK consultation; contact the Dallas eye surgeons at the Key-Whitman Eye Center now!