3.1 Can you fix squint?

In short: Yes. Strabismus is a completely treatable condition. [6]

The earlier it gets diagnosed and treated, the better. Yet even adult strabismus, with the right surgeon, have reported wonderful success rates. [7]

3.2 What are the treatments for squint?

The only way to fix eye misalignment - is where it originated. We have to train – or force via operative means - both our eyes in the same direction.

• Eye muscle surgery works that way: The surgeon forces your eye muscles to pull in the same direction via a surgical treatment. This tends to be the most common way to fix crossed eyes - with over 1,2 million strabismus surgeries done per year in the United States. [8]
• And so do all vision therapy methods: The Brock String, VR Training, various Amblyopia Games – they train your eye muscles to look in the same direction.
• Prism glasses (almost) do work that way: The glasses change the light rays direction, making sure the light rays hit the right part of the retina. [9]

Squint (strabismus) can be treated or strongly improved without a surgical procedure. Yet surgery is the most common procedure recommended for strabismus.

However even though it's high recommended by doctors, only 1 out of 20 people that suffer from strabismus opt for surgery. But why? [10]

3.3 What does the operation involve? My experience:

I've had eye muscle surgery on my affected eye in 2019:

Although the eye muscle surgery was done incredibly well by the surgeon, the end results were quite disappointing: The eyes slipped back in their previous position 3-4 months later.

3.4 How long is squint surgery?

Strabismus surgery is an outpatient procedure.

This means, that you do not need to stay at a hospital overnight. The surgeon will do the procedure, and afterwards, you can go home.The surgery is performed quickly. My procedure took about 30 minutes, as I had only one eye to operate on (yours may take a bit longer, up to 1.5 hours in total). [11]

3.5 What happens after the operation?

The procedure after the surgery, based on my experience, is straightforward:

1. You wake up after general anesthesia in a hospital bed.
2. You have a patch on your operated eye.
3. The surgeon will come and ask about your well-being/pain sensation.
4. You will get eye drops, and post-operation advice from the surgeon - and will be asked to go home.
5. You will be invited to a follow up check 1-2 weeks later (where they check double vision, redness etc. in the operated eye)

3.6 What does squint surgery cost?

The surgery is rather expensive: I've personally paid $4,400 for the surgery in Switzerland. According to a popular medical website, the normal prices of eye surgery are between $5,000 to $10,000.

After my failed surgery, I went onto the search for other treatment options to improve my outward turning adult strabismus:

3.7 Will more than one surgery be required to correct squint eyes?

Based on my experience, the answer to that is generally yes. Strabismus surgery has a documented re-operation rate of at least 10% one year after surgery. [12]

Which does not factor in surgeries after one year, or dissatisfied patients that said 'no' to the possibility of re-operation.

The reason for the high re-operation rate is two-fold:

1. The procedure – from assessment to surgery – is complex. There are a many potential pitfalls during the process, with human error accounting for about 50% of all errors. [13] So if you decide to go for surgery, choose your surgeon well!
2. The percentage of people that restore binocular vision (both eyes actually working together) after successful surgery is low. This is because the success rate of strabismus is based on an eye deviation of 10 prism diopters, while an eye deviation of 3 prism diopters is required to acquire true stereopsis. [14]

3.8 Are there any alternative treatment options for squint?

While eye surgery is a standard, and very effective way to treat strabismus - most patients (including me) were interested in alternatives.

Because surgery is perceived to be risky, costly and quite painful. It's an effective treatment, but most people are looking for an easier treatment to start...

... before they ultimately hop for surgery.

This is where our Lazyeyefix Ai software could come in handy. It's designed to help the 19 out of 20 people with strabismus that are not yet ready for surgery [15], yet still want to improve their condition.

What Is Lazyeyefix Ai?

It's more fun than eye exercises at home, less costly than vision therapy, more quantifiable than the Brock String, and less risky, costly and painful than strabismus surgery. In short:

• It helps control eye movement - to prevent eye turns - and help the eyes point in the same direction.
• It's as effortless as possible . no actual training time, so say bye-bye to daily 20min+ eye exercises.
• It's easy-to-use with no doctor supervision - no weird consultations.
• And you can pretty much start immediately and well, improve your crossed eye condition immediately.

And yeah, we have a free trial where you can basically try it with no risk (no other vision therapy method has this).

Feel free to click the link here to download your free trial for Windows:
‍https://dashboard.lazyeyefix.com/download/w/

Or click here to download your free trial for Mac:
‍https://dashboard.lazyeyefix.com/download/m/

References:

[1] Prevalence of Strabismus and Its Impact on Vision-Related Quality of Life: Results from the German Population-Based Gutenberg Health Study: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0161642020301913

[2] Strabismus by Cleveland Clinic: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15065-strabismus-crossed-eyes

[3] Born Too Soon - By WHO: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/44864/9789241503433_eng.pdf?sequence=1

[4] Adults with strabismus seek surgery for pyschosocial benefits: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211505613000793

[5] The Amblyopia Treatment Studies: Implications for Clinical Practice: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5396957/

[6] American Optometric Association:
‍https://www.aoa.org/healthy-eyes/eye-and-vision-conditions/strabismus

[7] Adults with strabismus seek surgery for pyschosocial benefits: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211505613000793

[8] Surgery is a routine procedure:
‍https://www.aao.org/eye-health/tips-prevention/lazy-eye-surgery-facts

[9] What Is Prism Correction In Eye Glasses?
https://www.aao.org/eye-health/glasses-contacts/what-is-prism-correction-in-eyeglasses

[10] Strabismus, Strabismus Surgery, and Reoperation Rate in the United States: Analysis from the IRIS Registry:
‍https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29779683/

[11] Study: Outcome of strabismus surgery in congenital esotropia:
‍https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1622945/

[12] Strabismus, Strabismus Surgery, and Reoperation Rate in the United States: Analysis from the IRIS Registry:
‍https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29779683/

[13] Human error in strabismus surgery: quantification with a sensitivity analysis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18953557

[14] Maximum Angle of Horizontal Strabismus Consistent With True Stereopsis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14970796/

[15] Study: Strabismus, Strabismus Surgery, and Reoperation Rate in the United States: Analysis from the IRIS Registry:
‍https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29779683/