Difference Between Amblyopia and Strabismus

The key difference between amblyopia and strabismus is that amblyopia causes reduced vision in one eye due to refractive errors, strabismus, and cataracts, while strabismus causes a lack of alignment in one or both eyes due to problems with the eye muscles, the nerves that transmit information to the muscles, or the control center for eye movement in the brain.

Amblyopia and strabismus are two eye conditions that develop in childhood. Amblyopia is known as lazy eyes, and strabismus is known as crossed eyes. These are closely related but have different eye conditions. This is because strabismus is the most common cause of amblyopia. Moreover, amblyopia often occurs along with strabismus.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Amblyopia  
3. What is Strabismus
4. Similarities – Amblyopia and Strabismus
5. Amblyopia vs Strabismus in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Amblyopia vs Strabismus

What is Amblyopia?

Amblyopia is an eye condition that is also called lazy eye or lazy vision. It is a serious eye condition that affects vision in one eye. In this condition, poor vision develops in one eye during infancy or childhood. Amblyopia is due to abnormal visual development in childhood. The causes of amblyopia include refractive errors, strabismus, and cataracts. The symptoms of this condition may include difficulty in throwing and catching objects, poor depth perception, clumsiness, squinting the eyes, head tilting, strains in the eye, fatigue developing with near-sighted work, bumping into things, favoring one side of the body, having crossed eyes, and having a droopy eyelid.

Moreover, amblyopia is diagnosed by measuring visual acuity on an eye chart and using optotype-based recognition. Furthermore, the treatment options for amblyopia may include eye patches for kids, wearing eyeglasses, putting eye drops (atropine), and surgery.

What is Strabismus?

Strabismus is an eye condition that is also called crossed eyes. This condition results in eyes turning inwards (esotropia) or sometimes up and sideways. Strabismus develops in childhood and causes a lack of alignment in one or both eyes due to problems with the eye muscles, the nerves that transmit information to the muscles, or the control center for eye movement in the brain. The common symptoms of this condition may include observable eye turning, poor depth perception, staining in the eye, pain in the eye, headaches, blurry or double vision, and eye or general fatigue.

Moreover, strabismus is diagnosed through patient history, visual acuity test, refraction test, alignment and focus test,s and eye examination after dilation. Furthermore, treatment options for strabismus may include wearing eyeglasses or contact lenses, wearing prism lenses, orthoptics (eye exercises), medications such as eye drops or ointments, patching and eye muscle surgery.

What are the Similarities Between Amblyopia and Strabismus?

• Amblyopia and strabismus are two related eye conditions that develop in childhood.
• Strabismus is the most common cause of amblyopia.
• Amblyopia often occurs along with strabismus.
• Both conditions may have similar symptoms, such as vision problems, headaches, eye fatigue, etc.
• Both conditions can be diagnosed through a complete eye examination.
• They can be treated through medications and specific surgeries.

What is the Difference Between Amblyopia and Strabismus?

Amblyopia is an eye condition that causes reduced vision in one eye due to refractive errors, strabismus, and cataracts, while strabismus is an eye condition that causes a lack of alignment in one or both eyes due to problems with the eye muscles, the nerves that transmit information to the muscles, or the control center for eye movement in the brain. This is the key difference between amblyopia and strabismus. Furthermore, amblyopia usually affects one eye, while strabismus usually affects both eyes.

The following table summarizes the difference between amblyopia and strabismus.