Crossed eyes or double vision (strabismus)
Dr. Vandekerckhove and Dr. Vereecken.
What is strabismus?
Strabismus, also known as ‘crossed eyes’, is a vision disorder whereby the eye movements do not line up in the same direction. Sometimes, the sharpness of vision is not the same in the two eyes. Mostly, one eye is noticeably different. This can be a sign of a so-called ‘lazy eye’. It is therefore important to test your vision and if necessary improve it first by wearing glasses and covering the better eye.
The eye affected by strabismus may look inwards, outwards or even up or down. Essentially, the balance between the two eyes is disrupted. Strabismus appears mainly in children and begins soon after birth or a bit later. As an adult, you can also develop strabismus after an accident, a nerve disease or a stroke.
Treatment of strabismus
The procedure
An operation for strabismus is carried out under general anaesthetic in an outpatient ward of a hospital. The parent or guardian can stay with the child until he or she is under anaesthetic.
Normally, the patient feels very little pain in the eyes after the operation and in principle can do everything. A week after the operation, we schedule a check-up with the orthoptist.
