Today (Wednesday), I took my son (age 10) to the eye doctor, mainly b/c he has been blinking and moving his eyes lately like crazy - like he has something in them. She noticed that my son's left eye turns outward a bit, but not all the time. She prescribed some steroid eye drops to see if that would help his excessive blinking (she said it looked like he had some allergies in his eye). She gave me the card of the neurologist to see. What can I expect? What are the possibilities of what this could be??

Hi: Most kids whose eyes turn inward or outward have strabismus. This is the brain and eye muscles not working together too well. The best doctors to treat this condition are pediatric ophthalmologists. A neurological exam (at least the ones I've had) don't involve much--things like following a moving object, touching your nose with your finger, standing on one foot, etc. If the neurologist suspects anything he will order an MRI.

Torre

Thanks for your reply. The lady we saw yesterday was a pediatric opthamologist. She has told us that the Neurologist will probably order a MRI. Our appt. isn't until November 29th. Any ideas?

Did she say why she wanted your son to see a neurologist?

T.

She said it is possible that his excessive blinking is caused by allergies. But he blinks very strangely, like he is trying to get a contact out of his eye (but he doesn't wear contacts). She said from a scale of 1-4 his eye lining looks like they are having an allergic reaction of about 2.5. She prescribed steroid allergy eyedrops to use for 1 week. Then we are to use the prescription eye drops. She is hoping that this will help his strange blinking.

I told her I brought him to an eye doctor 2 years ago because of excessive blinking, but they said nothing was wrong. But back then, he didn't blink near as much as he does now.

All in all, she said even if he is experiencing allergies, the allergies would not be the cause of his left eye looking outward when trying to focus on an object. She noticed it right away when she had him look at her ink pen at the beginning of the appointment. He also says that his eyes start to hurt after he reads for about 30 minutes or so. She said she wanted the records of his last eye exam 2 years ago. To her, she thinks this is a situation that is getting worse over time, which needs to be checked out. She was very suprised that I have not noticed his eye turning outward...but it is so subtle, and I have 4 kids, I really have never noticed.

I didn't ask a lot of questions this time, as we are going through a totally separate problem (she may require surgery) with my 11-year old daughter, and at the time I didn't want any more info, as I was still digesting the new information I had received on Monday about my daughter. But now I do want info about my son's eyes. The only thing I can find online as to the cause is a tumor.

The possible allergy and the exotropia sound like two separate problems. I don't know why this wouldn't be a simple case of strabismus. Anyway, since we can't post URLs, please look up AAPOS. You'll get all the information about exotropia and strabismus that you're looking for.

Good luck with both your kids. It's always something, eh?

Torre

Hi Torre,

I can't thank you enough for your replies. You have made me feel much better. I'm assuming that she's just sending us to the neurologist for a MRI as a precautionary measure.

I was looking online, and I found some symtoms of retinoblastoma (a certain kind of eye cancer):
Leukocoria is the most common sign of retinoblastoma and can be seen in 60% of patients. Other signs may include strabismus or crossing of the eyes, which is noticed in 20% of children. Furthermore, in approximately 10% of children, eye swelling with pain and redness occurs.

I'm glad that we are seeing a opthamologist who is so thorough. I'll let you know what we find out in about a month.

Thanks again!!!

Hi, I don't really know much about why your son may be blinking, but the outward eye I can relate to. I was born healthy but as I was to get older my eye muscles started weakening in my right eye so my eye started pointing outward, I had 3 surgeries as a young child to correct this, they seem to have worked but as I got older my muscles just wasn't strong enough. The doctor's referred to this as a "lazy eye" All throughout high school I was teased and tormented because my right eye looked different and believe me I still stuffer from all the torment and pain I went through. Luckily when I was senior in high school someone gave my mother a contact and I ended up having my final surgery when I graduate high school and it finally worked. I am 23 years old now and I am happy. This may not be the case with your son, but if so, get him to a surgeon to correct it before he experiences children with bad attitudes and is teased because of this that he can't help. If you have any questions, please ask.

Hi there. She didn't like that he was blinking his eyes so strangely. Also, since that appt., we have uncovered pictures where his pupil is white (possible Leukocoria). However, the eye doctor did not see any leukocoria in his eyes, which is good. So, the main reason is because of his strange blinking...like he has a lost contact in his eyes...also, it is still strange that we have snapshot photographs of my son where one of his pupils is white (this can be a very BIG warning sign of a tumor, and should be evaluated immediately).

My DS had his MRI this past Friday. We go to the Neurologist this Friday for him to read the results. I'm expecting a positive outcome...if I understand correctly, if one of your eyes is turning outward, it can cause one pupil to be white in photographs due to the alignment...if I understand correctly.

If his pupil really was white, I'm sure you would have noticed it at the time. Let us knwo what happens Friday.

Allinasmile - Thank you for your reply. I feel for you and the experience you have had. Thank you so much for sharing. I will make sure to follow up on his condition, and see if we can get his eye to stop turning outward. If all is okay, they are recommending vision therapy at this point.

The white pupil I was referring to only appears white in photographs. The pupil appears white because it is not reflecting the light from the flash. You wouldn't be able to see the pupil as white in normal lighting. Many cases of retinoblastoma (eye cancer) are missed every year because people don't know to have their eyes checked out immediately if they see a white pupil in their photographs.

"If there is no family history of retinoblastoma the first sign of the condition is often a white pupil that does not reflect the light. This may be detected when a picture of the child is taken using flash photography. The affected eye may look white in the photograph..."

Thank You! Let me know how it goes with your son. :bouncing:

Hi guys. We saw the neurologist today. The MRI was normal. But actually, they told me that they were looking for a brain tumor, not retinoblastoma. However, if he had either of those, they would have shown up on the MRI. Apparently, during examination, his eyes would spontaneously turn to the right. I am aware of this at home.

The neurologist said it looks like he is developing a facial tic, and that the strange blinking of his eyes is just that -- a facial tic. He also checked Diplopia on the form, but did not mention it to me. We are supposed to go back to the neurologist in 3 months. My son is also scheduled to go back to the eye doctor very soon as well.

Thanks for your support! I appreciate it!

That's good news, Kippy. Looks like it might just be a "simple" case of strabismus (exotropia). This poster didn't start having problems until the age of 12: www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=223466

T.

Kippy, my father has severe strabisimus in one eye due to a brain tumor and the removal surgery when he was a teenager. That was my first thought, and I'm so glad the MRI was normal!!

I have a VERY minor strabisimus in my left eye (outwards) that isn't even noticeable until I try to read or stare at something for a long time. This causes me to blink ALOT when concentrating because my focus tends to come and go so much. I am always blinking to refocus things. This turned into a facial tic with me. I have learned how to control it somewhat as I got older.

I have 20/20 vision in both eyes, and they tell me glasses wouldn't help my problem. Each eye works fine, but the coordination of them together is slightly screwed up.

I hope you get some answers! Keep my posted! You've been going through alot lately with your kids!

Siren - So good to hear from you! I'm so sorry about your dad! Does he have any problems with his good eye? And I can't believe you have a facial tic too - How have you controlled it? The neurologist mentioned medicine, but said to wait to see if it gets worse or not. His "tic" has been a lot worse this past few days. We'll wait and see. They wanted to test him for seizure activity too, but I think that is what the MRI was for. I really think he's going to be fine. We are so glad everything is okay.

BTW, do your eyes ever hurt from blinking so much, or from your strabisimus?

Kippy

Kippy, my Dad's vision is terrible. The tumor was slightly larger than a golf ball with little projection like things, some of which were wrapped around his optic nerve. So he has a very strong prescription. When he takes his glasses off his bad eye rolls so far out into the corner of his eye he can't see much of anything. Even with glasses they've only been able to correct him to 20/80 in that eye. The other one is not good either, but at least correctable. He's also epileptic as a side effect of the tumor and surgery, but has managed to live a completely normal life and is still working at 55! I think they may need to do an EEG to detect seizure activity. I'm not sure MRI's can pick up electrical activity. Of course, my dad had these huge grand mals, (very well controlled for years) but there was never any need to really wonder if he had seizure activity going on!

As for my vision and tic, my eyes did get very tired from blinking so much. I blinked both in a wincing type manner. And the strabisimus, which is EVER so minor, does cause headaches alot in school or church, any time I'm trying to read or concentrate on something for long periods of time. But the tic I started developing in elementary school. And I don't know how I stopped it, but I was always VERY socially concious, and forced myself to stop alot of strange behaviors to fit in. (I also am pretty sure I'm slightly OCD) I had many many strange behaviors in childhood that I hid or broke myself of simply because I didn't want to be "weird."

How old is your little one now? She's a little younger than mine, right? Cal was 16 months this month. I rememeber we were July/August mommies together, but I can't rememeber exactly when she was born.