CROSSED EYES(Strabismus)

Crossed eyes, or strabismus, involves a misalignment of the eyes. it is one of the most common eye problem in children, but it also occurs in adults.
Strabismus develops when the eye muscles fail to work together or to function in a parallel manner, one eye or both may turn or wander in or out, up or down. The condition can result from neurological problems, a tumor, or an injury but most often it is due to imbalance of the eye muscles.
The deviation may be constant or come and go. Sometimes it is obvious from birth; in other cases it doesn't appear until later in a child or adult. Childhood strabismus is often associated with a "lazy eye" or amblyopia, in which just one eye assumes the task of relaying visual messages to the brain.
A new born baby's eyes tend to wander, but by three or four months, an infant should be able to focus on small objects, and the eyes should be parallel.
By six months, he should be able to focus on both distant and near objects. If crossed eyes or excessive squinting persists past four months, the baby should have an eye examination. Even if their eyes appear normal, all children should have them examined by pediatrician by age six months.

Diagnostic Studies and Procedures:
Even when crossed eyes are apparent, a doctor will perform basic vision tests. Adults and other children will be asked to read numbers or letters on a wall chart, and children who cannot read will be tested with a picture chart. In very young children, the doctor estimates the vision of each eye by observing how it follows a small toy or some other brightly color objects.
Next, the external eye muscles will be tested by examining how each eye moves. The doctor may hold a pencil or a flash light in front of the eyes and ask the patient to focus on the object as it is moved in and out of the visual field. the angle of crossed eyes can be determined with special instruments. Drops are then out in the eyes to dilate the pupils for examination with an ophthalmoscope.
Additional tests may include blood and urine studies, X-Rays, a CT scan, and other imaging studies.

Medical Treatments:
If there is any underlying medical condition, it will be treated first, glasses may also be prescribed to improve the wandering eye's ability to focus, and to redirect the line of sight to synchronize and straighten the eyes.
If amblyopia is present, an eye patch may be placed over the normal eye to force the weak eye to focus. Or, eye drops or ointment may be used to blur the vision in the normal eye.
If these approaches do not work, surgery may be performed to straighten the eye muscles. The type of operation varies according to the underlying causes of problems. In the most common procedure, an eye surgeon makes small incision in the covering of the eye to adjust the tension