strabismus

[Guest guest]

I know this was recently discussed and I just ignored it because I

didn't think it applied to me. My son's eyes occasionally cross,

sometimes he does a strange " popeye " sort of squint and recently one eye

at a time turns in occasionally. I still didn't think much of it

because I didn't know about strabismus until today. I just thought it

was a typical autistic stim behavior. My son's teacher asked the school

nurse to come in and look at my son's eyes. This is one of the things

she suspects could be wrong. I have an appointment with a optometrist

next week.

He is 4.6 y.o. How can effective can vision therapy be at this point?

What exactly will they do? Where do prism lenses come in? If this is

the problem and is corrected could I see good changes in his learning

habits?

I'm sorry for all the questions but this is new to me as of tonight and

I would appreciate everyone's input. I read the archives but would

still like to hear from all of you that this is pertinent to.

Thanks so much.

Penny

[Guest guest]

> I know this was recently discussed and I just ignored it because I

> didn't think it applied to me. My son's eyes occasionally cross,

> sometimes he does a strange " popeye " sort of squint and recently one

eye

> at a time turns in occasionally. I still didn't think much of it

> because I didn't know about strabismus until today. I just thought

it

> was a typical autistic stim behavior. My son's teacher asked the

school

> nurse to come in and look at my son's eyes. This is one of the

things

> she suspects could be wrong. I have an appointment with a

optometrist

> next week.

>

> He is 4.6 y.o. How can effective can vision therapy be at this

point?

It can completely and permanently cure the problem - and usually does.

Unlike surgery, which is usually repeated - often several times.

> What exactly will they do?

First they examine him and get a good diagnosis to figure out exactly

what IS going on. Then they prescribe appropriate treatment, which is

often but not always some form of visual training that falls under the

general category of " orthoptics " or " vision therapy. "

> Where do prism lenses come in?

They are sometimes used simply to fix the problem with glasses. More

often they are used during vision therapy to stimulate his brain to

learn to point both eyes at the same image so he gets a single fused

picture of what is in front of him.

> If this is

> the problem and is corrected could I see good changes in his

learning

> habits?

Yes. Dramatic. Get a copy of " The Suddenly Successful Student " from

OEP (www.oep.org) for more info.

> I'm sorry for all the questions but this is new to me as of tonight

and

> I would appreciate everyone's input. I read the archives but would

> still like to hear from all of you that this is pertinent to.

>

> Thanks so

[Guest guest]

Diane,

My son was born with congenital exotrphia, which is a

form of strabisbus in which the eyes turn outward. He

had surgery at 18months to correct it. It hasn.t come

back, he's 3.6 yrs.

--- Diane <ddudzik@...> wrote:

>

> I read on the love letters files someone saying

> strabismus is caused by mercury. She has just

> started the chelation and was hoping it would help

> it. I didn't find a follow up, but was wondering if

> anyone else (or if she's reading this) has had

> strabismus improved or fixed by chelation. My son

> also has the dilated pupils that I've read others

> talking about.

>

> Diane

>

> [Non-text portions of this message have been

> removed]

>

>

=====

Suzanne M. Schwarz

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

>

> I read on the love letters files someone saying strabismus is

caused by mercury. She has just started the chelation and was hoping

it would help it. I didn't find a follow up, but was wondering if

anyone else (or if she's reading this) has had strabismus improved or

fixed by chelation. My son also has the dilated pupils that I've read

others talking about.

Mercury causes convergence insufficiency (which if really bad is

strabismus), mydriasis (eye dilation) and accomodative insufficiency.

It does this by concentrating in the third cranial nerve.

Children with this from a young age may need vision therapy to learn

how to use their eyes properly. They will very seldom need surgery,

but if you go to an ophthalmologist that is most likely the only

option you will be offered - if that happens, seek a second opinion

from a behavioral optometrist.

Even if surgery is required, the outcome of the surgery is far better

if vision therapy is done before and after.

Andy . . . . . . . . .. . . . .

>

> Diane

>

> [Non-text portions of this message have b

[Guest guest]

> Diane,

> My son was born with congenital exotrphia, which is a

> form of strabisbus in which the eyes turn outward. He

> had surgery at 18months to correct it. It hasn.t come

> back, he's 3.6 yrs.

Surgery seldom works for this, but since OD's do vision therapy and

MD's don't, MD's reccomend surgery.

Vision therapy will often fix it because the problem is in the brain,

not the eye muscles. When there IS a problem in the eye muscles this

will be quickly determined by the OD and surgery will be reccomended

with before and after vision therapy.

If you root up papers via medline on this you'll find even the MD's

admit that the average number of surgeries strabismics get is about 3.

And not all of them are fixed by the time they give up on further

surgeries.

Andy . . . . . . . .. . . . .

[Guest guest]

>Surgery seldom works for this, but since OD's do vision therapy and

MD's don't, MD's reccomend surgery.

If you root up papers via medline on this you'll find even the MD's

admit that the average number of surgeries strabismics get is about 3.

And not all of them are fixed by the time they give up on further

surgeries.<

Our eye doctor wanted to do surgery also. But for us surgery is never a first

option, so we've been doing eye therapy. It seems better, but not fixed.

That's why I was curious about the mercury affecting it. Our Doctor did tell us

that at least 50% must have more than one surgery to correct and he even told us

it's not an eye problem but a brain problem.

Diane

[Guest guest]

This has been an interesting thread.

When I was 2 1/2 yrs. I was treated with Mercurochrome in an emergency room

after a auto accident. Amongst other things, I became legally blind and my

right eye turned to look at the tip of my nose. I was taken to an

ophthalmologist (very old man at the time), aside from telling my parents

that I had to have been like this since birth, they just hadn't noticed, he

had me wear a patch over my left eye for a while to make me use my right

one. I do not remember how long I wore the patch, but then I got glasses.

Something about the prescription made my eye hurt if it turned in. If I took

my glasses off, it would turn, but not with them on. By the time I was in

grade school, it would only turn if I were tired. As an adult, it does not

turn at all. I just recently had to get a new pair of glasses (due to being

kicked in the face by a cow). The optometrist that I saw asked me if I had

had surgery to repair it. He seemed very surprised when I told him no. He

said that it is almost impossible for it to be " fixed " without surgery. I

had seen another ophthalmologist about ten years back that had suggested I

do vision therapy for my lack of 3-D vision, I didn't take him up on it,

though.

It seems really odd that my ophthalmologists have done, or wanted to, do

therapy, while a optometrist told me crossed eyes don't repair without

surgery. And I know I do not have their titles mixed up.

But anyway, it is possible to fix the problem without surgery.

Tana

[Guest guest]

> >Surgery seldom works for this, but since OD's do vision therapy and

> MD's don't, MD's reccomend surgery.

>

>

> If you root up papers via medline on this you'll find even the MD's

> admit that the average number of surgeries strabismics get is about

3.

> And not all of them are fixed by the time they give up on further

> surgeries.<

>

>

> Our eye doctor wanted to do surgery also. But for us surgery is

never a first option, so we've been doing eye therapy. It seems

better, but not fixed. That's why I was curious about the mercury

affecting it. Our Doctor did tell us that at least 50% must have more

than one surgery to correct and he even told us it's not an eye

problem but a brain problem.

A good doc!

You might mention to him that mercury concentrates in the third

cranial nerve and causes a mild, symmetrical impairment of its

function of the sort that most cranial nerve screening exams will miss

precisely because it is symmetrical and mild rather than the

assymetrical and profound impairment they expect to see from trauma.

> D

[Guest guest]

When I talk about what one kind of doc versus another kind will say, I

am referring to the " religious positions " of the different " sects " of

modern medicine. E. g. QuackWatch worshippers versus ACAM doctors,

pediatricians versus DAN! doctors, etc.

There are lots of open minded doc's of all types around who are very

aware that their particular specialty hasn't cornered the market on

wisdom or therapeutic prowess. They usually give good advice.

There are the occasional dufuses who get conned by the other doc's

into accepting that they are second class citizens and not REAL

doctors. They usually give really dangerous advice since they think

they are supposed to tell you to do stuff that they weren't trained in

and thus don't understand the proper indications for.

This is a fascinating story. The message it holds for me is that if

you have a doc start telling you the way it MUST HAVE BEEN and

disagreeing with you about what you observed, you know something is

going on that is against their religion and you are pretty much on

your own to get good answers.

BTW, even as an adult who has never seen 3D, you can learn to use your

eyes together and see 3D just like everyone else with adeqate therapy.

It is harder for adults to do this than for children in a technical

sense, but adults are much more motivated and much more able to do the

therapy exercises properly so they often progress just as fast as

children do.

Andy

> This has been an interesting thread.

> When I was 2 1/2 yrs. I was treated with Mercurochrome in an

emergency room

> after a auto accident. Amongst other things, I became legally blind

and my

> right eye turned to look at the tip of my nose. I was taken to an

> ophthalmologist (very old man at the time), aside from telling my

parents

> that I had to have been like this since birth, they just hadn't

noticed, he

> had me wear a patch over my left eye for a while to make me use my

right

> one. I do not remember how long I wore the patch, but then I got

glasses.

> Something about the prescription made my eye hurt if it turned in.

If I took

> my glasses off, it would turn, but not with them on. By the time I

was in

> grade school, it would only turn if I were tired. As an adult, it

does not

> turn at all. I just recently had to get a new pair of glasses (due

to being

> kicked in the face by a cow). The optometrist that I saw asked me if

I had

> had surgery to repair it. He seemed very surprised when I told him

no. He

> said that it is almost impossible for it to be " fixed " without

surgery. I

> had seen another ophthalmologist about ten years back that had

suggested I

> do vision therapy for my lack of 3-D vision, I didn't take him up on

it,

> though.

> It seems really odd that my ophthalmologists have done, or wanted

to, do

> therapy, while a optometrist told me crossed eyes don't repair

without

> surgery. And I know I do not have their titles mixed up.

> But anyway, it is possible to fix the