Kate's eyes are turning in

[ChunkyNicksChunkyMom]

She has her 9 month appointment tomorrow and I have noticed that her eyes both turn in , quite noticably, but not all the time. She also has a blocked tear duct in one eye. I am sure they will refer us on to a pediatric opthamologist but am wondering if anyone her has BTDT and what I should expect to happen. if they correct this surgically do they wait til they are a lot older?



Susan

#1 Nick 11-18-04
#2 Kate 04-26-06

[MayB]

I haven't btdt, but my niece had corrective surgery for a lazy eye (sorry, forget the medical term) when she was two or so. It was far more traumatic for her parents than for her. She's thirteen now and has had no problems. From what I remember, it's more common to do the surgery than use an eyepatch to correct (like Sally in the Peanuts cartoon) than in the past. Good luck.

[Marisa6826]

Sophie had surgery on her eyes (even though only one turned in, they do both for better alignment) when she was 10m old. Her eye became noticable when she was about 6m old.

They first had us do patches, as well as atropine drops to strengthen the weak eye. Without the muscles in place to hold the eye, the surgery wouldn't be successful. Also, it was to start her brain getting used to vision from the weak eye (it was only processing from the strong one, causing monocular vision - as opposed to binocular).

We did the patch for a few hours a day, until she started pulling them off. It was a huge PITA, since I had to literally distract her for every minute the patch was on - otherwise she'd pull it off. We then resorted to putting atropine drops in the GOOD eye, causing the vision to blur. It's effective, but not as much as the patches, which is why they hold off on doing it unless they have to.

The surgery itself is more successful the younger they do it. That way, the brain has the ability to 'retrain itself'. Without it, aside from the cosmetic implications, there was a strong chance that Sophie would never be able to drive, etc. I have no regrets about it at all.

We had the surgery done at Childrens' Hospital of Phil. Although we're only a half hour from NYC, and saw a fabulous ped opthal., I was more
relaxed (if that's possible) about the surgery knowing that anesthesiologists that deal with kids - and ONLY kids - and that was enough to make us drive the 3 hrs south. We spent the night down in Philly in case Sophie had any problems the first night.

The surgery is only about a half hour, so they're done before you even have the opportunity to really freak out about it. ;)

As I said, they did both eyes, and I would say that her alignment is perfect about 95% of the time. The only time it's not, is if she looks up into far corners or if she's REALLY tired. They said that's completely normal. She will eventually need glasses, but that's not surprising (nor related) since both J and I wear them.

LMK if you have any other questions. I know it's scary, but honestly, the sooner you deal with it, the more successful the outcome.

-m

[octmom]

Katie had a blocked tear duct and we took her to a pediatric ophthalmologist at the beginning of October, when she was 7 months. After an examination, the doc was able to open her tear duct with a very small probe. Unpleasant part-- she had to be strapped to a papoose board. It was really over in a split second (we could hear her from another room) and she was back in my arms in a matter of moments. We've had no problems since she had it opened. Our doc told us that he can only do this procedure on very young babies. Once they reach a certain age, he does it in the OR with general anesthesia. Katie just had numbing drops in that eye.

Good luck!

Jerilyn
DS, 10/03
DD, 3/06

[MommyAllison]

Our next door neighbor's DS had a blocked tear duct from birth and it was corrected surgically on his first birthday. It went smoothly for them and there were no problems post-op. Hope it goes well for Kate too!

Allison
Mama to DD 11/05

[charleneand2]

Blocked tear glands are not surgically corrected until at least 12m old. Up until then they can resolve on their own. Do GENTLE massages over the area with a warm wash cloth and this can help it open. If it does need to be surgically opened it is a simple procedure in which a small probe in used to open up the canal. It is an out patient procedure.

As far as the eye turn, the cause has to be determined first. Some eyes turn in because there is a muscle imbalance problem. Some eyes will turn becasue they are so farsighted they can not focus and all the effort it takes to try and focus they eye causes it to turn in. The Dr will cycloplege (using drops) the babies eyes and theb determine the amount of near or farsightedness. If the eyes are straight while the full glasses perscription is in place then you would just wear glasses or even sometimes contact lenses. If there is still a significant eye turn even after the best glasses perscription then surgery can be an option.

Vision is developing until about age 7 so the sooner the problem is addressed the better the chance will be for straight alignment of the eyes and clear comfortable binocular vision.

I hope this helps,
Charlene

[megs4413]

DD had the blocked tear duct. we did the gentle massages and it worked out on its own.

no btdt with the eyes turning in. i hope the pedi has good advice...let us know how it goes!