Will the eye get lazy again when the patching stops?

[Millhousen]

Will the eye get lazy again when the patching stops?

[Stirling City]

Usually patching is stopped gradually once the sight in the lazy eye has improved. In many children the improvement will last but in some children some laziness of the vision can return. The orthoptist will monitor the vision and advise you if patching is needed again. As children get older the vision will finish developing so that the sight stays stable when patching is stopped. Most children will need to continue wearing their glasses after the patching has stopped.

[Wolfeboro]

Lazy eye often affects children with crossed eyes or those who have one eye that for some reason does not see as well as the other eye. The correct term is amblyopia and means the vision is reduced through disuse. This occurs when the brain is receiving such different images from the two eyes that it ignores one of them. Again, early treatment gives the best results. Sometimes the better eye is covered with a patch to stimulate and strengthen the lazy eye. However, patching alone does not usually restore good vision. Unless something is done to correct the underlying cause of the condition, the vision will become poor again once the patching is stopped.