Amblyopia is a serious vision condition commonly known as lazy eye, where vision is reduced or even lost in an eye that is not treatable with vision correction such as glasses. This condition is often a result of long-term suppression of the eye’s signal by the brain, and is commonly associated with advanced strabismus (crossed or wandering eyes). Less common causes are issues in the first 6 years after birth where the eye is damaged or vision is impaired in any way, different vision in each eye, and blockage of an eye due to trauma, cataracts, or other impairments.
Amblyopia is a neural condition. What this means is that while the eye may be functional, the loss of vision takes place in the brain, in the processing section of the visual cortex. If one eye is sharply focused and the other is only sending a blur in relation to the focusing eye, the brain can suppress the blurred image to retain sharp focus. If the suppression continues for long enough, the vision loss can become permanent
In recent years, scientific and clinical research has disproven the commonly held belief that amblyopia cannot be treated after 7 years of age. With appropriate treatment methods, including Neuro Visual Training and vision correction such as glasses, the effects of amblyopia can be minimized or even corrected completely at any age.
