Complain about a product or service

Treating Lazy Eye with Patches and Drops

By Henry J. Fishman, M.D.
ConsumerAffairs.com

May 11, 2006

Dr. Henry Fishman • New This Week • Previous Topics • About Henry Fishman • Radio Features

Using eye drops may work just as well as a patch in treating lazy eye, according to an article in the journal Archives of Ophthalmology.

Kids with amblyopia have weak eye muscles, so one eye looks like it's lazy and goes to the side.

Currently, doctors treat it by placing a patch over the good eye so the lazy eye adjusts. Now, a study of 419 children ages 3 to 7 found that eye drops which blur the good eye may work just as well as a patch.

Researchers treated 215 kids with a patch, 204 with atropine, an eye drop.

Initially, the patch group did a bit better but 87 months later, the groups did about the same -- 80 percent of the kids in each group got better.

Kids preferred the drops to the patch, though they did occasionally cause side effects.

Conclusions: We need more research. If you child has lazy eye, see an ophthalmologist and discuss patches and drops. In the right kid, each works just fine.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Share		Follow us on Twitter.