Mothering Forum banner

Natural treatments for strabusmus/esotropia?

9K views 26 replies 9 participants last post by  HeatherP703 
#1 ·
While we do not have a comprehensive diagnosis yet (waiting for the pediatric opthamologist appointment in two weeks) I am pretty sure my daughter has strabusmis of the esotropia kind.

Has anyone tried acupuncture, chiropractic or cranio sacral therapy for this problem. From the little I have read so far the treatment can vary from glasses, patches and surgery. Depending on what the doctor says I would like alternative treatements first, or alternative treatements in conjunction with traditional. Any thoughts, advice or links are appreciated.
 
#4 ·
My dd is 3 1/2, has accomodative esotropia, been in glasses since January.
I was devastated at first, not a big deal. She looks great in her glasses, it took about a week to get used to them. Vision therapy is not an answer for her situation. The PO said she has a decent chance of getting out of glasses around age 7. The PO doesn't think we'll need patching because of catching it early. I noticed her squinting one eye to watch the television, and bypassed the pediatrician,and went right to a po. I'll be happy to answer any other questions you have. My dd is farsighted, and that is the cause
of her ae, I never saw her eyes cross. Catching it early is important.
 
#6 ·
2 weeks is good, when I tried to get a first appt., I was getting responses months away. I persisted and had a few week wait. I promise that it will be alright. I got my daughter some books about wearing glasses, unfortunately they are all cartoon type books. I would love to write a cool book with little girls dressed up wearing glasses. We gave her lots of support, w/o my knowledge, older girls (who wear glasses) at her school, came and spoke to her, I started wearing glasses and so did DH. Now, I just see my beautiful daughter who wears glasses. It's good to catch early, our PO said it probably would have developed in to amblyopia. Once my dd realized that her glasses helped her see, she was great about wearing them. It was hard to teach her to put them down on tables, not on the floor. When is your appt.? Where do you live?
 
#7 ·
thank you so much circle mama. a teacher at her school recommended the same doc we have an appt with so i feel a bit better. she also told me i was very lucky to get in so quickly even though it feels so far away.

we live about 40 mintues north of nyc. i don't know much of anything other than what i read on childvision.org (something like that, a web site i found on another post here). i read there that excercises are an alternative to surgery, and that surgery usually corrects the cosmetic problem of the eyes not being straight. however, vision can become 2 dimensional over time, and it is only through vision therapy that you can correct this brain/eye disfunction.

am i am making any sense? does any of this sound wrong or right?

a children's book about glasses sounds wonderful. i may have to start to get creative to help her if that does indeed tend to be the treatment.
 
#8 ·
The book that was most helpful was a blue clue's book, Magenta gets glasses.
My understanding, is that as long as glasses straighten the eyes, vision therapy isn't an option. My dd started in glasses in January, we've had one follow up, and things look good. The po said we might have some small prescription changes here and there, but no patching, since my dd is farsighted in both eyes. We proceeded to get vision insurance, and everyone in the family has gotten eye check ups. My ds is 7, and slighty nearsighted, no need to correct. However, we found that my DH is farsighted
and probably the source of our situation. Again, I promise, it will be alright,
girls are better with glasses, after all, they are an accessory! There are really cute styles. If you give me your email, I will send you some pics of dd w/ her glasses.
 
#9 ·
thanks for the offer CM. if we do ended up needing glasses i will take you up on your offer. thankfully my husband and my father wear glasses, so dd is not unfamiliar with them. but it is good to know which book helped since we love to read in our house!
 
#10 ·
Both can be dealt with without surgery, and many times successfully without glasses. You just need to find someone who knows what they are doing. I had multiple surgeries for s/e starting at 5 months all the way to adulthood. I wore glasses starting at age 4-ish. Because the problem can be hereditary I did alot of research on the subject because I went through alot that I shouldn't have. A good CST would be a great start. You need a holistic opthamologist. I know of one in CT (he's a great resource!) and that's about it. I hope you get some answers!
 
#12 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by goodcents
okay i am new to this. what is a CST? i made an appointment with an opthalmologist. i also made an appt with a vision therapist.
i'm going to guess cranio-sacral therapist?

my experience . . .

i was dx'ed with strabismus at age 4, patched until about 8, out of glasses by 12. no surgery - and i had a fairly severe case. my mom had noticed my eye turning in from a very early age, and everyone wrote off her concerns. when she finally brought me to an opthomologist, he told her that if she had let it go another 6 months, i would have been functionally bling in that eye from under-use. bottom line - listen to your mama instincts.

my dd was dx'ed with accomodative esotropia at 2 and a month (bc i was over-vigilant bc of my experience). she is now 5 and a few months and patching a few hours a week. her opthomologist is extremely pleased with her progress and is only patching to get her vision *perfect. he said that if she displayed her current acuity of vision following surgery, he would consider it successful, but since we're doing so well, why not get it 100% right?

my chiropractor claims that he corrected strabismus in a nine year old once - and has pictures, but i don't think i would venture out of traditional medicine for something as important (and non-invasive in the case of patching) as vision.

goodcents - if you are only 40 min north of nyc, i used to go to a practice at columbia university - at the time, they were reportedly very well respected. might be worth looking into.
 
#14 ·
we caught my ds's at 2. He started glasses right away and after 6 months or so started patching. Initially every day for 2 hours. He weaned off the patching just recently and is doing great (he's four now). We had to get fun patches to help convince him he wanted to wear them.
 
#15 ·
My son was diagnosed with accomodative esotropia at 2. We got him in glasses right away; they straighten his eyes while being worn and he has done wonderfully with them. It was explained to me at the time that surgery is reserved for truly severe cases; with esotropia (as explained by two opthamologists), this usually only occurs when it has gone untreated for so long that the wandering eye(s) have become so weak that true strabismus has developed. That's what I've been told, anyhow. Generally, accomodative esotropia can be effectively treated with only glasses.

Best of luck
 
#16 ·
Mrzmeg, it is only true esotropia when the eyes "drops" and stays that way? My daughters's eyes can be straight, and they *seem* to be straight more often than not. But I can see her left eye "drop" meaning the iris in pointed in and down.

I wish I caught this earlier! I now plant o have my 1 year old son evaluated at earlier age.
 
#18 ·
Quote:
Mrzmeg, it is only true esotropia when the eyes "drops" and stays that way? My daughters's eyes can be straight, and they *seem* to be straight more often than not. But I can see her left eye "drop" meaning the iris in pointed in and down.
With accomodative esotropia, it can "float", seeming off sometimes and on sometimes; generally, when it appears that way, you've caught it early enough to treat it non-invasively. Once it drops and stays that way, you uaually have to consider surgery.

It sounds like your daughter's eyes will be able to be corrected using glasses, if our armchair diagnoses are correct
. Like a previous poster said, unless there are other vision problems (my ds also has an astigmatism, for example), the glasses often correct the esotropia completely over the course of several years and the person is out of them by adulthood.
 
#19 ·
We saw the opthamologist today. My dd is both near sighted and far sighted!
She also has an esotropic strabismus. The doctor prescribed glasses, but thinks the strabismus may be corrected, hopefully, without patching.

We picked out some funky glasses (no insurance coverage! WTF?!?! I can get an exam, but nothing to help fix the problem?!?). She will have to wear them all the time, which I am wondering how exactly I am supposed to accomplish that. I also have a 14 month old son we have to keep away from them. He already pulls the glasses off the face of my dh and my dad, I am sure he is going to go for hers.
I have my son scheduled for an evaluation when we return to the doc in 6 weeks.
 
#20 ·
GC, that's great that it is will be so easily correctable! I've found that I haven't had to fight to keep the glasses on my ds; he really notices that he doesn't see nearly as well without them, so he wants to wear them. The few times he's balked, the rule has been that he cannot read/be read to or watch TV (two things he needs good eyesight to do) until he puts them back on. It usually doesn't take long. Since he has gotten to really value seeing better, when his 13 month old sister goes for the glasses, he gets away as fast as he can! But dh and I both wear glasses too, so my dd sees them as pretty normal and not something removable, if that makes sense.

I hope that your daughter is enjoying her new, improved sight!
 
#21 ·
Oh blasted! I typed out a long post last night, and by the looks of it, it never made it to the board!

Mzrmeg - were we in the April 05 due date club together? I "know" your user name but I can't remember from where. I suck at this in real life too....not having a "face" to connect to a user name makes it all the harder.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that we don't need patching. We have a 6 week followup visit, at which time the doctor will determine if it is needed. I am really hoping not. The transition to glasses has been going okay, not the easiet, not the hardest. I have been giving dd a walnut bach remedy to help with the transition, and some homepathy to deal with eye strain/muscle soreness since I think her eyes are hurting a bit as they get worked in different ways.

We are lucky in the same way that DH wears glasses as does my father who lives with us. Most of my dd's relatives wear them, and two of her teachers do, and also 1 other girl in her preschool.

Speaking of a 13 month old going for glasses, I am thinking of buying a "backup" pair in the event that they get broken. I would hate DD to have to go a week or more while they made a new pair. At the same time the glasses or so expensive, I am not sure what to do.
 
#22 ·
well the good news is that my dd's ambloypia (spelling?!) is gone. we dont' have to patch any more, for the moment.

the bad news is that she will always have the strabismus when she takes her glasses off. it happens when she tries to focus. unless her prescription changes, and her eyes become stronger, it will always be present. this will not likely happen before puberty, if at all.

i am happy about it the progress, and the fact that we are able to have helath insurance, and disposable income to buy glasses. everytime something like this comes up, i realize that we don't get everything we want, our family always has (thankfully) what it needs.

on the downside....what i am not so happy about is the fact that i just bought 3 boxes of patches from ortopad. i have the boy ones, the mixed, and the white with stickers. they are for 2-4 year old. i am selling them on the trading post for $10 a box PPD.
 
#23 ·
okay - i am bumping this old thread because i am revisiting the vision therapy idea. but, at the moment, i can't make heads or tails of whether or not this will help my dd (hence the bump).

the fact that she will always have a strabismus is bothering me. if there is something i can do to help with that i want to try. does anyone have any thoughts, ideas or experiences to share?

thanks!
 
#25 ·
Glasses fixed it for my daughter. As long as she wears them her eyes are perfectly straight.

ETA: The eyes cross when straining because the vision is impaired. You really cant fix it without glasses or surgery. Its a direct side effect of the impaired vision.
 
#26 ·
I have had accomodative esotropia all my life. My parents didn't catch it until I told them I was seeing double, when I was about 5, and I started wearing glasses then. I wore bifocals. I stopped wearing glasses full time when I was about 12. I really only need them for up close.

I am farsighted and have astigmatism as well (not sure if it's in both eyes to be honest). I have very thick glasses with a strong prescription that I am embarrassed to wear in public because the glass is so thick that my eyes look huge! I love to wear them at home when I am reading or on the computer so my eyes don't get tired and I can read without crossing (double vision).

Any time I am in public and looking down at my phone, reading a menu, looking at labels at the grocery store, etc...my left eye is completely crossed. No one has ever asked me about it, but I do catch people looking at me sometimes...it takes a moment for my eyes to uncross when I look up and into the distance...sometimes if I am tired, they don't completely uncross unless I make an effort to uncross them. If I indulge in too many glasses of wine, my eye will cross, even looking into distance.

It really hasn't negatively effected my life and I am in my 40s. It hasn't stopped me from doing things, and my vision was always 20/20 with glasses. I have been having issues with blurred vision lately, but the docs don't think it's related to accomodative esotropia.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top