Amblyopia, also known as lazy eye, is an early childhood condition where a child’s eyesight in one eye does not develop as it should. It can be caused by various factors, including far-sightedness, muscle imbalance, or eye injury.
When a child has amblyopia, the brain focuses on one eye more than the other, virtually ignoring the “lazy” eye. If that eye is not stimulated properly, the nerve cells responsible for vision do not mature normally and can cause partial or total blindness in one eye.
The term lazy eye is not entirely accurate as the eye is not lazy. In fact, it is a developmental problem in the nerve connecting the eye to the brain, not a problem in the eye itself.
A child with lazy eye will not be able to focus properly with one of their eyes, however the other eye will make up for the problem, so much so that the affected eye suffers as a result.
The eye with impaired vision (amblyopia) will not receive clear images; the brain won’t receive clear data, and will eventually start to ignore it.
In many cases, the brain and the “good” eye make up for the shortfall so well that the child does not notice they have a problem. That is why lazy eye often remains undetected.
