Please verify your email address to receive email notifications.

Enter your email address

We have sent you a verification email. Please check your inbox and spam folder.

Unable to send verification, please refresh and try again later.

  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    What causes strabismus?

    Related Topic
    Strabismus (cross eye)
    answer this question

  • Find a professional to answer your question

  • 2

    Thanks

    Tania Straga

    Orthoptist

    I am an orthoptist that specialises in eye movement disorders, paediatric vision assessment, double vision assessment and prism correction. I provide neuro orthoptic assessments to … View Profile

    There are several causes of strabismus. The most common types are:

    • Infantile Esotropia - this is an inward turning of the eye. It occurs in very young children and is usually not associated with any refractive error. Usually this form of strabismus is treated with surgery.
    • Accomodative (and partially accomodative) Esotropia - this is an inward turning of the eye associated with hypermetropia (long sightedness). The prescription and wearing of appropriate spectacles either partially or fully corrects the strabismus.
    • Exotropia - this is an outward turning of the eye that usually occurs when the child is looking to the distance. It can occur at any stage in childhood, and can be present all the time or only part of the time.
    • Hypertropia - this is when one of the eyes is aligned higher than the other eye, and can be a sign of a number of different eye movement disorders.
    • Third, Forth and/or Sixth Cranial Nerve palsies - these cause an inward, outward, downward and/or upward turning of the eye which is different in different positions of gaze, and needs to be investigated thoroughly by an ophthalmologist.
    All types of strabismus need to be investigated as early as possible by a qualified professional. Often strabismus is also associated with amblyopia (lazy eye or poor vision) which is best treated in early childhood. An optometrist, orthoptist or ophthalmologist will be able to help with this.

    Reply to this post
     · 
    Report
    Reply to this post

    You must be a Health Professional to reply to this post. to your account or now (it's free).

answer this question

You must be a Health Professional to answer this question. Log in or Sign up .

You may also like these related questions

Related Fact Sheets
Related Questions

Empowering Australians to make better health choices