Adult Strabismus Botox Treatment

Strabismus is a condition in which the muscles surrounding the eye do not work correctly, causing the eyes to fail to line up properly when focusing. Strabismus results in an individual being cross-eyed (one or both eyes turn inward) or wall-eyed (one or both eyes turn outward).

Adult Strabismus

• Adult strabismus can occur for several reasons. In many adults, treatment for the condition occurred during childhood but failed to permanently correct the condition. Adult strabismus may also be caused by injury, diabetes, cataracts or conditions inside the brain such as tumors. Your doctor will order a variety of tests in order to determine the cause of strabismus and treat any underlying conditions to see if the strabismus will resolve without eye treatment.
  No matter what condition leads to it, the immediate cause of strabismus is an imbalance in the strength of the muscles that control turning the eyes. Either one set of muscles is too weak, which causes the eye to pull toward the stronger set, or one set of muscles is too strong and pulls the eye too far.

Nonsurgical Treatment for Strabismus

• The first treatment of strabismus is generally nonsurgical and involves eye exercises which strengthen and coordinate the muscles around the eyes. If only one eye is turning, your doctor may instruct you to place a patch over the eye which is working correctly in order to force the turning eye to gain strength.
  Your doctor may also prescribe special glasses. These glasses use a triangular or prismatic lens to refocus the light (and thus the images) coming into one or both eyes, forcing them to turn properly. Depending on how often and how severely your eyes turn, you may need to wear the glasses constantly or just when problems with strabismus occur.

Surgical Treatment for Strabismus

• If nonsurgical options are not enough to correct strabismus, your doctor may choose to correct the condition with surgery. Strabismus surgery involves shortening one or more of the eye muscles which turn the eyes. Shorter muscles, due to greater tension, are stronger and give greater control. In the case of an eye (or eyes) turning inward, the surgeon will shorten the outer muscles, helping the eye to remain centered. In cases of an outward turn, the inner muscles may be shortened. Some cases will require all of the sets of muscles to be adjusted.

Using Botox to Treat Strabismus

• One of the first FDA-approved medical uses for Botox injections was for the treatment of strabismus in adults and children 12 and over. Botox injections use botulinum toxin, which paralyzes muscle fibers. In strabismus treatment, Botox injections are used on the eye muscles which are believed to be more strongly pulling the eye.
  Although Botox injections can be effective in treating strabismus, their effects generally last about three months. In some patients, this may give the weaker eye muscles time to build up strength and permanently correct the condition. Other patients may have to repeat the procedure.
  Benefits of Botox injections for strabismus include a lower risk of surgical complications, a shorter recovery period from the procedure and a higher degree of control over how many muscles are affected by treatment than with surgery. Botox treatment for strabismus can also be used in patients who have already had surgery and have had a relapse.