Worried about 16 month olds eye's - Children's Health Message Board

chelespiglets · 05-21-2003, 05:45 AM

Hello,
I am a very worried mother. My 16 month old who has never had eye prob, now has her right eye is turning in. She has a appt with a specialest on June 2, but I was wondering if anyone might know why this is happining?

I might be making a mountian out of a small hill but I had a good friend and her son had no prob with his eyes. Then one day his eye started to turn in and she took him to the doctor and they found out that he had cancer on his brain stem. That was making his eye turn in. He past away at the young age of 10. This scares me to death. I know that my daughter does not have cancer (I pray she doesn't) But It does scare me.

Are they going to patch her eye or put glasses on her? I just dont understand why all of a sudden after all this time it now just starts to turn in.

Sorry for going on and on, but I am a Mother of 6 and she is my youngest.
Thanks for your input.
Bye Chele'

SueA · 05-21-2003, 06:02 AM

It may just be a weakness in the eye muscle. If this is the case then they may put a patch on the other eye or give some exercises to do.

I can understand your concerns as you can get eye symptoms from brain problems. However, if you child is normal in every other way, displays no unusual behavior and has reached her milestones so far, try not to worry too much.

I find it easier to jot down questions to ask the specialist, ensure you understand what he is saying, if not, get him to explain it better.

Good luck with the appointment, let us know how your daughter goes. Sue

Shaman · 05-21-2003, 02:19 PM

Chele-

I know how frightened you must be because of the tragic experience your friend had, but please try not to worry. While it is, as you know, possible for strabismus (turning of one or both eyes) to be caused by a tumor, the vast majority of cases (as in 99.9%) are NOT linked to life threatening illness.

I am assuming that your child is scheduled to see a pediatric ophthamologist? If not, you should ask to see one if the Dr you see on the 2nd does not have a good answer for you.

From what you say, it sounds like your child has esotropia, which is turning in of one or both eyes. Depending on the situation, it may be treated with glasses or surgery.

Patching is used to treat/prevent amblyopia, which is reduction of vision in one eye due to the brain "ignoring" the misaligned/blurry image from the eye with strabismus. It is a fallacy that patching strengthens the muscles of the eyes, which are approximately 100 times stronger than they need to be to perform their function. Patching helps to train the brain to use both eyes equally so that your child will develop binocular vision and improve or eliminate the vision loss if it is present.

The solution to this may be as simple as a pair of glasses, so try not to panic! Good luck at the specialist.

camden · 05-21-2003, 04:59 PM

My sister and her daughter both had this. It was a weakness in the eye muscle. They both had surgery done to correct the problem and had to wear glasses. My sister did not end up wearing the glasses all of her life(probably only a couple of years). My niece wore glasses before the surgery and is still wearing glasses, but with a weaker prescription.

The surgery involves shortening the weak muscle so that it can hold the eye straight. Sometimes the eye will actually look turned the other way but the muscle will loosen and it will look normal. Some people have to have the surgery done again later in life as the muscle weakens again.

Some people do not need surgery as the patch and glasses may correct the problem. The doctor will likely check the vision and if poor will try to get it as good as possible before doing surgery.

The biggest problem you may have, for now, is getting a 16mth old to keep glasses on(if this is the case).

chelespiglets · 05-22-2003, 05:55 AM

Bless you all for writing me back. Thanks for the info and the kind words. I am worried, but I know not to think of the bad first but that is hard, ya no.

I will search for all the conditons you all talked about and read up on them.

Thanks again.
hugs Chele'