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Post by heartcat on Jul 6, 2014 19:42:13 GMT
I uploaded some photos yesterday and noticed that dd's right eye is slightly off centre. I went through some additional photos and it appeared the same in each of them. She was out, but when she got home, I made a point to look at her and indeed the eye is off centre, turning slightly inwards. I had not noticed this before in day to day life. She said that she had noticed it herself not too long ago.
She said that she had told me about it, and I did remember her commenting that she didn't like photos of herself (had gone through a 'selfie' phase) because her 'eyes were funny'. She didn't elaborate, and since she can be self-critical at times, and since I hadn't noticed anything myself, I didn't think too much about it. I feel badly about that now.
I googled it and it seems it could be something called strabismus, which some babies are born with, and which does not appear to be too serious when it presents early on, and is dealt with by an eye doctor. However, it seems that for it to present later in childhood, or in adulthood, that it could have a more serious cause (they listed things like tumour, stroke, head injury, disease or other illness, but I'm not making any leaps) and should be seen asap.
She has also been getting a lot of headaches lately, which we assumed were migraines, as I get them too and what she described sounds like mine, and often coincides with when I get one (mine are usually weather related). And the other day she commented that her right eye seemed more red than usual and it was rather bloodshot on one side, but with school out she's been up pretty late lately, and I attributed it to that. Though of course now wonder if it as additional symptom.
I wasn't quite clear whether this was something that should be addressed by our family physician or our eye doctor. I will call our eye doctor in the morning and ask whether they think I should bring her there or to our family doctor.
Has anyone heard of this happening to someone as a teen? Or have any information about it? If so, do you know of other questions I should ask dd to help determine what might be going on?
I am naturally concerned, but not panicky or anything at this point. Still, good thoughts or prayers are always appreciated, thanks!
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Post by stephofalltrades on Jul 6, 2014 19:49:06 GMT
DD had a lazy eye and they caught it in her kindergarten exam. I hadn't really noticed either, but after that I went back through photos and noticed then. She had to wear an eye patch over the stronger eye a few hours/day to build up the weaker one. After doing that for a while and wearing glasses, there is no longer a noticeable drift. Several members of DH's family have a more extreme version that sounds like what you are describing, one eye is very much turned a different direction than the other. There is a surgery that can be done to correct it, something with the muscles, but I don't know any details about it. His uncle had it done 20 years ago and now that eye has begun to drift in the opposite direction, so he plans to have the operation done again.
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Post by gotranch on Jul 7, 2014 1:07:07 GMT
I would take her to an eye doctor. Most general physicians will most likely just refer you to an eye dr anyway. My dd is dealing with some eye issues and we started with the er because it was a holiday. They referred her to an eye dr. and they sent her on to another specialist. Good Luck! Hope there is a an easy remedy.
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Post by Legacy Girl on Jul 7, 2014 1:49:20 GMT
I would make an appointment with an ophthalmologist (pediatric, if possible). That's who we dealt with for DD's amblyopia when she was in Kindergarten (and she continues to see him as a sixth grader). Our optometrist was ill-equipped to handle her treatment. SO glad we made the decision to see the pediatric ophthalmologist ~ he treated her successfully and all is well. Good luck, and please keep us posted!
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Post by heartcat on Jul 7, 2014 9:14:06 GMT
Stephanie, that is good that your dd's issue was a simple fix.
Gotranch, that's what I thought would likely happen. And thank you.
Legacy Girl, I am not sure whether I can book an appointment with an opthamologist directly or will need a referral. I will start with our optometrist and call today. They should be able to get her in quickly and then we can go from there.
Thanks, all!
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Post by mrsscrapdiva on Jul 7, 2014 15:43:38 GMT
Interesting that you posted this.
How old is your daughter?
I feel like I have a lazy eye but have never had an eye doctor tell me this. I go regularly to the eye doctor because I have glasses. I am 40 btw, and in the past month I feel like it is worse and notice it in selfie type pictures. I don't take many selfies, but my kids love when I use the camera option on my laptop and they act all silly. I sometimes feel like it is worse when I am tired.
I need to look into this too. I know about the patching because we did this to strengthen one of my son's eyes that was weaker than the other.
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Post by heartcat on Jul 8, 2014 9:18:40 GMT
Mrsscrapdiva, Brooke is 14.
Kelkeller, I am sorry that your family had to deal with that. I cannot imagine. I hope that your dd is doing fine now.
I have an appointment for this afternoon with our optometrist, and depending on how that goes will ask about a referral to an opthamologist if she does not suggest it herself.
I have been doing some googling, despite knowing that it is often pointless and fear inducing, so I am a bit uneasy. But it does sound as though the fact that this seems to be occasional rather than constant is a plus.
I will just have to wait until she is seen and we actually have some information about what might be going on.
Thanks again.
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Post by heartcat on Jul 9, 2014 9:46:35 GMT
Oldpeanewname, I am glad to hear that your dd has been getting care and will be getting surgery to correct the issue for her.
Strangely, Brooke has not had any vision problems such as double vision.
We had our appointment yesterday and the optometrist said that the eye itself looks good and healthy. Brooke does need glasses and is nearsighted.
The eye was not turning in while we were there, and I got the impression that the doctor thought that we were just imagining it, or that it was just the camera angle in the photos I had noticed it on. I have seen it visually and 'know' that the right eye turns in at times. And photography is my hobby, I have taken thousands of photos of Brooke over the years. I can tell that it is the eye itself turning inwards in the photos.
We do have another appointment today, where they will map the eye to keep on her file. And they want to fine tune the prescription for glasses. As well, she asked that we bring in photos that show the eye turning in, so I will print a few today and take those with us.
I am glad to learn that the eye itself is healthy, but I 'know' the eye has been turning in on occasion and know that that is not normal and still want to know 'why' that might be happening and what it could mean. Hopefully once the doctor sees the photos she will understand what our concern is.
She also asked for photos where flash was used, but I don't have any. I always use natural light for portraits. I am wondering whether she wants to see whether there is that 'white eye' effect in the pupil that can signal a problem. Although I had thought that was an issue usually found in very young children.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and experiences.
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Post by Kymberlee on Jul 9, 2014 10:29:59 GMT
Thank goodness that it doesn't sound serious. What is the difference in acuity in her eyes? If there is a substantial difference, your daughter could have a condition called amblyopia which could cause the strabismus. Usually, that is caught in younger kiddos but it MIGHT be the reason her eye is turning inward. Amblyopia is a condition when the acuity in one eye is much better than the acuity in the other eye. This cause the weaker eye to "shut down" because the brain has difficulty processing the images together. When the eye stops working, the muscles also stop working and hence the eye turns in/out. Amblyopia is also known as "lazy eye". Glasses should solve the problem.
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Post by meridon on Jul 10, 2014 2:06:44 GMT
I have amblyopia that I was born with. As a result, I have strabismus, which is much more pronounced when I am tired. As I got older (middle school age), my left eye got much weaker, and it became much more pronounced. I wonder if perhaps your DD always had a discrepancy between her eyes but now it is pronounced enough to be causing the strabismus.
The surgery people are mentioning is basically Botox injections into the eye muscles to keep the eye from drifting inward or outward. The drift for most people is much more pronounced when they are tired, so keep a watch out for that in case the dr. asks. I had it done in high school and it did help. I'm in my late 30s now and could probably look into doing it again, but I have crap vision insurance and it doesn't bother me enough to want to pay out of pocket.
Depending on her diagnosis, she might qualify for vision therapy through the special education services offered by the school district, even if she goes to private school or is homeschooled. Most health insurance and even vision insurance, doesn't cover vision therapy.
It's great news that they eye seems healthy. I'm sure you've thought of everything already, but any chance she could have gotten a concussion? Strabismus is a common side effect. Hope she can get in to see the ped optho soon. Based on my own experiences, an optometrist won't have a real clue what to do. Especially if surgery is warranted.
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samantha25
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,075 
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Post by samantha25 on Jul 10, 2014 3:37:50 GMT
Hey Heartcat- Just wondering if your daughter has a more dominant eye or requires a bigger difference in prescription lens correction. I have always had a big difference between eyes, (-6.00 vs. -8.00) and my strabismus was diagnosed as an adult, in my 30s, and got progressively worse during graduate school. I had to have surgery in both eyes, where in one eye the doctor left a stitch/thread hanging out of the eye, so the next day the doctor could physically move my eye to align it. That was painful.
As far as symptoms, it's not just a true double vision, it's more like the alignment of images aren't in focus and it's harder for my brain to align them. I did prism glasses for a while, but eventually, the prescription of the prism was too much to handle, hence surgery. I did see a pediatric ophthalmologist, at Children's Hospital. One time I was the subject for the student Grand Rounds and was seen in the pediatric office. The docs asked if I wanted to watch Finding Nemo while waiting- funny. It really is amazing how your brain can adjust for compensation of the eyes and after a while the muscles can't do it any more. I do remember having an MRI/neurological tests to rule out tumors, as double vision is a common symptom. HTH
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jj
Shy Member
Posts: 48
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Post by jj on Jul 10, 2014 3:57:01 GMT
I would skip the appointments with the optometrist (usually covered under vision plan) and go straight to the ophthalmologist (covered under MEDICAL plan). Even if you have already seen the optometrist, I would still go see the ophthalmologist. Don't fill the prescription for the glasses until she is seen by the ophthalmologist.
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Post by heartcat on Jul 10, 2014 9:16:21 GMT
Thanks, ladies, for sharing your experiences and thoughts.
I can tell that the optometrist still thinks we are imagining it. She explained the photos as dd not looking straight at the camera. Fine, but still one eye isn't centred, with the other off centre, regardless of where you are looking. If the eyes are looking away, 'both' look away and each have one side that has less white and one side that has more white. Plus, I have 'seen' the eye do this, while I was standing directly in front of Brooke, as has her brother on another occasion.
At least she is still following up on things. She said that there is nothing with the eyes themselves that would cause this, that the tissue and muscles are healthy, and she doesn't see any signs of anything wrong neurologically. But she scheduled a peripheral vision test for next week, and did the mapping of the eye last night as well as repeating the tests from the previous day.
She scanned the photos I brought in and sent them to one of the other optometrists in the office who specializes in binocular vision. And she is referring dd to an opthamologist for a second opinion. Additionally, she said we should book dd with our family doctor, regarding the headaches, which I had already planned to do.
So even though I can tell she doesn't think the eye turning in is even actually happening, she is being thorough.
There have been no head injuries, so no possible concussion.
It doesn't happen all the time, or even often, and is not overly noticeable. I am feeling a bit better about it since there don't seem to be any obvious warning signs that there is something very wrong. Still, until someone can explain just what it is and why it is happening (and I know that it is happening) I will press for answers.
Thanks again.
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wellway
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,022
Jun 25, 2014 20:50:09 GMT
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Post by wellway on Jul 10, 2014 10:45:54 GMT
Glad to hear your optometrist is being thorough and hopefully you will have a complete answer soon.
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Post by heartcat on Jul 13, 2014 10:06:46 GMT
Iriscristata, thank you so much for taking the time to share that information with me, and for sharing the links with me. It took me a bit to get the search to work (maybe because I am in Canada, or maybe it was just me, lol) but I did find some optometrists not far from this area with that certification.
If the opthamologist that we are being referred to does not seem able to provide any answers, or seems to feel that this is not even really happening, I will definitely contact one of the optometrists on the list and make an appointment for dd. Thanks again, I really appreciate it and the additional offer of help as well.
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Post by OntarioScrapper on Jul 14, 2014 0:09:11 GMT
My daughter has surgery at age 3 for that. When her eye doctor finally sent her to get checked out further, that doctor couldn't believe it took her so long to get my daughter checked out.My daughter never liked to stand still so I never really noticed anything wrong with eyes. She did wear a patch on the good eye for a bit before the family doctor sent her for further testing. She is now almost 10 and her current eye doctor has noticed her eye drifts a bit. He had her do eye excercises for 6 months and had her come back. She would hold her finger far out from her face and bring it in towards her nose. She would do that every day for 10 minutes. Her eye has improved over a year and a half. If she keeps up the finger thing, the doctor said she should be find for now. Otherwise she will have to have eye surgery again.
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Post by heartcat on Jul 15, 2014 9:02:04 GMT
OntarioScrapper, I hope that the exercises work and that your dd can avoid another surgery. Good luck!
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