Adult Strabismus

Eye Muscles

Strabismus (pronounced “struh-BIZ-mus”) is a condition in which the eyeballs are not aligned properly and point in different directions. When it occurs in adults, it is called adult strabismus.

Signs to Look For

Symptoms of adult strabismus include:

• Eye fatigue;
• Double vision;
• Overlapped or blurred images;
• A pulling sensation around the eyes;
• Reading difficulty; and
• Loss of depth perception.

Risk Factors

Most adults with strabismus have had the condition since childhood. However, some medical problems can cause this condition later in life, such as:

• Diabetes;
• Thyroid disease;
• Myasthenia gravis;
• Brain tumor;
• Head trauma; and 
• Strokes.

Preventative Measures

Because adult strabismus is usually present from a young age, it is hard to prevent. Treating some of the medical problems that cause adult strabismus, like those listed above, can help prevent it, however.

Treatment Options

Adult strabismus may be treated with eye muscle exercises, eyeglasses containing prisms, botulinum toxin (Botox) injections and eye surgery.

Eye muscle exercise is usually used when treating a form of adult strabismus, called convergence insufficiency, in which eyes cannot align themselves for close work or reading. These exercises can retrain your eyes to focus inward together.

Prism eyeglasses can be used to correct mild double vision associated with adult strabismus.

Botox injections are an effective treatment when overactive eye muscles are causing strabismus.

Eye muscle surgery is the most common treatment. Strabismus occurs when the muscles around the eye are either too strong or too weak, and surgery allows the ophthalmologist to loosen or tighten these muscles in order to correct the misalignment.