Does Eye Patching Really Work for Lazy Eye??

[Anonymous]

I have a 22 month old and have been patching for at least 6 months now. We do 2 hrs a day and she wears glasses all day. I am wondering if anyone has had positive results from eye patching? Is there anything else that works too? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

It is the first action usually taken and can be effective.

It wasn't sufficient for my son who had crossing in both eyes. After 6-9 months (~age 3) his opthalmologist did surgery on his eye which stopped the crossing permanently.

Don't hesitate to discuss the treatment plan with your child's opthalmologist.

[Anonymous]

We did it for about 6 months when my son was 2.5. After little/no results, he had surgery just before he turned 3. Now, he's 4.5 and we are starting to see one eye drift out again, so we're likely looking at a second surgery.

[Anonymous]

Yes, the earlier the better

[Anonymous]

Yes, it definitely is necessary, though I am surprised you are only doing 2 hours/ day. My DD patched all day. She still had to have surgery, but the patching allowed her lazy eye to become less lazy and start working. The surgery is not to correct the amblyopia but to correct the strabismus.

[Anonymous]

There is amblyopia and there’s strabismus and varying severity. Our dd had an intermittent outward turn that was so slight, albeit noticeable to those looking for it. We patched for a couple hours a day for months and decided it wasn’t worth it. We saw no improvement. To be honest our ped ophthalmologist never seemed optimistic about it.

[Anonymous]

My son had accommodative and patched several hours a day for years. It was effective in that he didn’t lose any vision in the weaker eye (amblyopia). He still has a slight turn when trying to focus without glasses. His type of strabismus is not considered congenital and we’re told he isn’t a surgical candidate.

I have congenital strabismus. Patching didn’t work for me. I had surgery. Unfortunately repeat surgery is often required and I ended up with 5. Now as an adult I have no depth perception and require a new surgery as my eyes are again misaligned. So sadly surgery isn’t always the end all. For that reason, I think you should give patching a chance to work first.

[Anonymous]

It didn’t work for me.

[Anonymous]

Op here. Thank you for everyone’s comments. I have laze eye as well and patching didn’t work for me so I am feeling a little discouraged. We did find out so much sooner with my son so that is encouraging. My son just has amblyopia but I also have notice a little eye turning when he is patched.

Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

Patching and glasses didn't correct it for my daughter. Surgery at 5 did. Maybe she would have lost vision in one eye without it. We also did drops in one eye to force her to use the other. We went to Repka at Wilmer at Hopkins. He was wonderful as a surgeon.

[Anonymous]

My understanding is that patching is to prevent vision loss in the weaker eye not to correct crossing. My DD did is for years..many hours in the preschool years and then 2 hours a day later till about 8? Her crossing is corrected with glasses and contacts so surgery was not recommended.

[Anonymous]

Will likely need surgery. Patching doesn't stop the drifting. It helps prevent too much disparity between the vision in the two eyes because it makes one work harder. The amblyopia can only be corrected by surgery. My kid had it at almost 2.

[Anonymous]

Any tips for helping the child adjust to patching? We've been trying for months with our now two-year-old, and we're lucky if we can get him to keep the patch on for two minutes? He has some other sensory aversions, so suspect he just doesn't like the feel of the patch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any tips for helping the child adjust to patching? We've been trying for months with our now two-year-old, and we're lucky if we can get him to keep the patch on for two minutes? He has some other sensory aversions, so suspect he just doesn't like the feel of the patch.

Rewards - m&m after X minutes?
Distraction - TV was only allowed when wearing patch

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son had accommodative and patched several hours a day for years. It was effective in that he didn’t lose any vision in the weaker eye (amblyopia). He still has a slight turn when trying to focus without glasses. His type of strabismus is not considered congenital and we’re told he isn’t a surgical candidate.

I have congenital strabismus. Patching didn’t work for me. I had surgery. Unfortunately repeat surgery is often required and I ended up with 5. Now as an adult I have no depth perception and require a new surgery as my eyes are again misaligned. So sadly surgery isn’t always the end all. For that reason, I think you should give patching a chance to work first.

This could be me! I've had surgery 3 times and at 49 am due again. My son patched for 4+ years and never had a visible drift so doesn't need surgery. He no longer needs to patch but still can't see 3D.

Please keep at it - don't give up. I love my mom but she didn't enforce my patching at 2 years and I think it impacted me tremendously. No depth perception, can't catch a ball, etc. I was vigilant with my son and his depth perception is much better than mine will ever be.