Strabismus treatment

Treatment of concomitant strabismus

If there is concomitant strabismus (strabismus concomitans), the aim of treatment is to achieve that the patient

• can see spatially,
• complete visual acuity is achieved and
• a cosmetically satisfactory position of both eyes.

When treating children with strabismus, doctors try to avoid surgery as far as possible and initially achieve this with the following conservative measures:

• glasses should correct the defective vision,
• Fusion training, i.e. special eye training, is intended to merge double images into spatial vision and
• the so-called occlusion therapy. To do this, one eye is alternately covered with a plaster according to a set schedule: this measure forces the visually impaired eye to see better. With occlusion therapy, children learn to see well.

Squinting adults can be helped by a frosted film glued to a spectacle lens (for so-called prism compensation): The altered beam path prevents the so-called double vision. Fusion training can also help adults with strabismus.

Under certain circumstances, surgery on the eye muscles can treat strabismus. This is the case,

• if the squint angle is so pronounced that non-surgical measures do not allow binocular vision or
• if the strabismus is emotionally stressful and the eyes should be parallel again for cosmetic reasons.

In children, doctors usually perform this strabismus surgery under general anesthesia. Local anesthesia is possible for adults.

Treatment of paralytic strabismus

The treatment of paralytic strabismus (strabismus paralyticus) depends on the cause. In some cases, strabismus caused by paralyzed eye muscles also disappears within the first few weeks or months without therapy. It is not always possible to find a clear trigger for strabismus. If the strabismus does not improve despite causal therapy, prism glasses can compensate for it. If the strabismus persists for at least six months, it may be necessary to operate on the affected eye muscles.