Q: My son is 4 years and 3 months old and studying in LKG. Recently we observed that he has a squint in his right eye. We immediately took him to an opthalmologist in Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately no child opthalmologist is available here. Finally we are settled with eye glasses prescribed by an opthalmologist of a corporate hospital. The prescribed numbers are Right eye: +4.00/-2.00 x 180; Left eye: +4.00/-1.50 x 180. My son has been wearing them for the last three months. Initially it showed a little improvement. But now the situation is such that if he doesn't wear the glasses; squinting can be observed, while with glasses his eye doesn't show signs of squint. We did occlusion of the left eye for two weeks 5 hours a day and later on 3 hours a day for another two weeks. Later on the doctor said that occlusion was not required anymore. His vision is 0.4. Some times he does not cooperate in reading or identifying pictures. I am very worried. Will the squint go by wearing glasses? How long will it take to go? In how much time will his vision become normal? Do we still need to occlude his left eye, if yes, then for how many hours a day? Will there be any risk of vision loss in such cases? The doctor says that my son has a lazy eye.

A:Squinting of the inwards due to a high plus spherical power in both eyes is not uncommon. It is good that the power has been detected at an early age for your son and the treatment in the form of correct power glasses is being done. A vision of 0.4 in a 4 year old child with plus power is reasonably OK provided it is the same in both eyes and the glasses cause the squint to disappear. 1. Yes, the squint will reduce and maybe stay fully corrected, provided glasses are worn continuously and probably right into adulthood. 2. Vision is likely to improve gradually over a period of 3-4 years with continuous use of glasses. 3. If the vision is equal in both eyes and there is no obvious squint with the glasses, he does not require patching. 4. The vision may not improve if correct glasses are not worn and checked every 3-6 months. When you travel next to India, you can get a check up by a Paediatric Ophthalmologist at Icare Eye Hospital, Noida in NCR or at LV Prasad Eye Institute at Hyderabad or in Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai.