07/21/2025
Lazy eye (also called amblyopia — the medical term for lazy eye) is a vision development disorder in which an eye fails to achieve normal visual acuity, even with prescription glasses or contact lenses. Lazy eye occurs early in life and can prevent your child from developing normal visual acuity in the affected eye.
Thankfully, there are treatments for the underlying causes of lazy eye. Part of the treatment often involves patching of the patient's “good” eye to force the brain to pay attention to the visual input from the “lazy” eye and enable normal vision development to occur in that eye.
If detected and treated early, poor vision from lazy eye can be avoided.
Amblyopia typically begins during infancy and early childhood. In most cases, only one eye is affected. But in some cases, amblyopia can occur in both eyes.
If lazy eye is detected early in life and promptly treated, reduced vision can be avoided. But untreated lazy eye can cause permanent loss of vision in the affected eye.
Your best choice for healthy eyes is regular children's eye health evaluations. It is recommended that a child have their first eye exam around the age of 6 months.
