Is Surgery an Option to Treat Strabismus?
Yes. Surgery to correct strabismus is performed to strengthen or weaken the effect of one or more of the muscles that move the eye. When this procedure is performed on adults, it can usually be done under local anesthesia. (The eye is numb, but the patient is awake.) The surgeon will first make an opening into the outer layer of the eyeball in order to reach the muscle that will be strengthened or weakened. Strengthening the muscle usually means removing a small section from one end and then reattaching it back together at the same location. This makes the muscle shorter, which tends to turn the eye toward the side of that muscle. “Weakening” the muscle usually means moving it back or making a partial cut across the muscle. This has the effect of making the muscle weaker, which lets the eye turn further away from the side of that muscle. If the patient experiences double vision, it usually goes away within a few weeks after surgery as the brain adjusts to the new way of seeing.
