Maxivision Super Speciality Eye Hospitals

SquintWhat is Squint?
It is an eye-condition where there is a misalignment between the two eyes of a person such that they appear to be looking in different directions. It varies from case to case, with some conditions appearing permanent and others looking misaligned only sometimes. Although it is more common amongst children, it occurs in adults too.
What causes Squint?
The root cause of squint still remains undecided amongst experts. This condition develops when there is a lack of coordination between the muscles responsible for maintaining proper alignment of the eyes. Each eye is equipped with six such muscles for alignment; and malfunctioning amongst any of them can lead to squint. The misalignment could be greater in one direction of the gaze (like in squint due to nerve palsy) or it may be in all directions.
Long-sightedness (hypermetropia) and eye disease like cataract can sometimes result in an inward deviation of the eye. It's important to have a thorough checkup for all causes of squint, especially those among children. This will help eliminate any other cause of vision loss.
What problems arise from Squint?
Since misalignment between the two eyes results in two different images being sent to the brain, confusion prevails and can lead to either of the following two effects:
Children would tend to ignore the image from the deviated eye and would thus see only one image. However, this would cause loss of depth perception. This suppression of image from the deviating eye causes poor development of vision in the affected eye, giving rise to amblyopia.Amongst adults on the other hand, the brain does not ignore any image, causing the patient to see two images. This can be very annoying and also leads to interference during work.What are the symptoms of Squint?
Parents can usually notice a deviation in the eyes of their children. It must be noted though that newborns rarely have perfectly aligned eyes and take about 3-4 weeks to stabilize. A squint in children above the age of one month needs attention and must be evaluated by an ophthalmologist. In adults, the giveaways could be misaligned eyes or double vision.
How to diagnose squint?
An ophthalmologist would have to conduct special tests to establish the cause and quantify the amount of deviation. Some children have a broad nasal bridge, leading to the appearance of a "false squint". Only an ophthalmologist would be able to differentiate a "true squint" from a false squint.
What is the treatment for Squint?
Listed below are the objectives, in order of importance, in any treatment of squint-
Preserving or restoring visionStraitening the eyesRestoring binocular visionThe primary focus is to treat any refractive error if it is leading to squint. Often, a correction of this error may be all that is required to treat this condition, termed "accommodative squint". Next, the eyes are checked for the presence of amblyopia, which must be treated before any surgery for squint is performed. The importance of treatment has to be communicated to parents as their cooperation is essential in such cases.
Finally, squint surgery can be done on either one or both the eyes. It involves weakening or strengthening of the relevant muscles to restore balance and coordination. In some cases with double vision, prisms may be added in the glasses to ease the symptoms.
When should the Squint be treated?
The treatment of squint and any associated amblyopia is recommended at the earliest possible opportunity amongst children. Generally, the younger the age at which amblyopia is treated the better are the chances of vision-recovery. One needs to know that there is no such thing as "growing out of squint". A delay in treatment may decrease the chances of restoring alignment and vision for the patient.

How the Eye WorksA brief explanation of the eye may be of assistance in understanding the procedure. The cornea is a clear tissue located on the front of the eye. The cornea, in combination with the natural lens of the eye, focuses the incoming light onto the retina in the back of the eye. Refractive errors (myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism) usually result from a disparity in the shape of the cornea in relationship to the length of the eye.
EMMETROPIAEmmetropia is the condition of the normal eye when parallel rays are focused exactly on the retina and vision is perfect.
AMMETROPIA- Refractive errorWhen light doesn't focus directly on the retina, the eye has a refractive error and will cause blurred vision. The appropriate corrective lenses are used in front of eye, to focus incoming rays on the retina, which will give clear vision.
Types of Refractive errors:Myopia or Nearsightedness:
Myopia is caused either by an abnormally long eye or by a steep curvature to the cornea. Light entering the eye does not focus on the retina, but instead focuses the image to a point in front of the retina. The result of myopia is that distant objects appear blurry, while objects near to the viewer may be seen in focus.
Concave glass is used to focus them on retina.
The Excimer laser can flatten the corneal curvature allowing objects to be in focus in the distance.
Hyperopia or Hypermetropia or Farsightedness:
Farsightedness is caused by an abnormally short eye or by an excessively flat cornea. Light entering the eye focuses the image to a point behind the retina. The result of hyperopia is that objects near to the viewer appear blurry while objects in the distance may or may not be seen in focus.
Convex glass is used to focus them on retina.
The Excimer laser can increase the corneal curvature(steepening) allowing objects to be in focus in the distance.
Astigmatism:
In the normal eye, the cornea is curved the same in the horizontal and vertical directions, like a baseball. When light rays hit the cornea, they focus at a single point.
In astigmatism, the curve of the cornea is not the same in the horizontal and vertical directions. The cornea looks like a football, with a steep curve on one side and a flat surface on the other. As a result, light rays entering the cornea do not focus at a single point, causing distorted vision.
Most people with myopia or hyperopia have some degree of astigmatism.
The Excimer laser can adjust the corneal curvatures allowing objects to be in focus.
PresbyopiaNormally, when viewing a near object, the shape of the natural crystalline lens is altered. This change in the lens allows us to focus on the object closer to eye. As we age, the natural crystalline lens of the eye may lose some of its elasticity and thereby its ability to focus on close objects. This condition, known as presbyopia, usually begins around the age of 40 and will keep on progressing till you become 60 years of age.
Generally, reading glasses are prescribed to correct Presbyopia.
Supracor or Intracor procedure can help you reading without glasses.
Vision Correction AlternativesVision problems resulting from refractive errors (myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism) may be corrected with either eyeglasses or contact lenses. A description of the available surgical procedures is listed below.
Laser In-situ Keratomileusis (LASIK)Laser In-Situ Keratomileusis or LASIK, which is a permanent vision correction procedure, is available for treatment of mild to moderate amounts of myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism.
LASIK surgery can be performed by using blade (Microkeratome) or 100% bladefree (Femtosecond/Intralase laser)

The term laser is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation and may be the sexiest acronym in the human lexicon. It carries with it visions of Star Wars, connotations of unfettered power, and a mystique of benevolent utility. The very nuance of the term is that of something embodying everlasting welfare we don't know what it means but it sure sounds great! it has been made the subject of unprecedented media hype and has acquired a reputation for accuracy and applicability some of it justified, some not.
There is no question that such device through the beam of electromagnetic radiation that they emit, are extremely powerful things. It is however, this very power that makes them extremely dangerous devices. Dangerous, not only in their manifest (as well as latent) power, but in their ability to fascinate, nay mesmerize us perhaps into applying them in ways that may prove to be more harmful than beneficial.
After half my life time in UK from 1978, I was fortunate to be the first Doctor to introduce Lasik Laser in England in 1995 and in India in February 96 and completed 21,000+ Lasik procedures. I always said that there is a good, there is a bad and there is even an ugly side to laser procedures. Recently there are press reports to say that Asian eyes are at risk with Lasik laser surgery, but this is what I was saying from the beginning because we noticed, in the beginning of 1996, in England, that 15% of patients in general are not suitable for Lasik as they have thin corneas and this percentage is more in Asians i.e., about 25%. At Maxivision in one day we had to reject seven out of seven patients, proving the importance of not operating than operating.
Therefore, it is important not to operate on those patients at risk and create problems for them and bring a wonderful procedure into disrepute. The ugly side of Lasik procedure really is not appreciated straight after the operation but can be a long term problem. This is why an important judgment on the part of the Doctor is most beneficial to the patient. The procedure really is God sent to benefit those who are suitable.The TechnologyTechnology in all fields is constantly changing. In the eye there are umpteen laser machines which have certain advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is up to the individual doctor to know about these machines and use them to the benefit of their patients. For instance at Maxivision eye hospital we have constantly upgraded our machines and we have four different types of machines from 1996 and that is the reason why we have different techniques.
While Lasik is something that all machines can do, the new wavefront technique and the Tissue saving technology can only be done by one machine. I therefore repeat that an important judgment on the part of the doctor is most beneficial to the patient and that makes the procedure a God sent procedure to benefit those who are suitable.