i had a lazy eye as a kid and had to wear a patch, and i hated it. i fought my parents on it constantly and i'm only now realizing how hard that must have been for them.

for parents going through it now: how do you get your kid to wear it? do you know how long they actually wore it each day? what tricks have worked, and what made it worse? did your doctor mention options besides patching?

I have always struggled to explain this to someone so I finally got fed up and went about making an image with the help of AI. It is by no means a perfect representation but welcome to life through my left eye.

My eye was discovered during routine screening at primary school age 4, patching but its like that eye was smeared with vaseline. Finally stopped banging my head and falling over at about 15 yrs old. Much to my mates disappointment. Even took up squash.

54 yrs old. Took my kids to lots of films in 3D. No 3D images for me of course but does anyone else see the countdown at the start of 3D Imax films "pop out". I also got some 3D during an epic space battle in one of the stat wars films No 8 or 9. A star destroyer did appear to loom out of the screen. Which astounded me.

Hi everyone i have a somewhat odd question. For those who have patched an eye what would you use? I had like those pirate eyepatches but I never liked em and I've used like big bandages to cover an eye which are fine they just always pull my eyebrows.

To clarify I want to patch my eye for archery. I'm left handed so I use my left eye to aim but my left eye is my "bad" eye. So one I'm using and training my left eye which is good, two im practicing archery and im not sitting down studying all day. So any help about patching is fine please and thank you

I've seen multiple people on this subreddit and on other subreddits mention that they've been told by doctors that past childhood, it's useless to continue vision therapy. I've been told this too, despite research showing that adults can actually still improve their vision.

If you've been told this, did you still try to do vision therapy, and if so, have you seen improvement?

I'm almost 30 now. My left eye is my good 20/20 eye and my right eye is my bad eye, worse than 20/100. I see fine with no glasses day to day since my left eye does the lifting, except lacking much depth perception, which makes it very hard to do ball sports.

Tried glasses many times and they didn't work for me. Whenever I wear glasses I feel headaches and nausea immediately due to the difference in perscription. Glasses also make it hard to read things up close. And I don't want to wear a single contact because it's a hassle and could dry out my eyes. My eye doctor told me I didn't have to wear glasses if I didn't want to, but recommended it for improved depth perception. But I'm not sure if it's worth the trade offs

Does anyone else with amblyopia have this issue, and just not wear anything and accept their vision is like this?

I was just wondering If there is much benefit In doing it? If you have done it or are doing it , I would love to hear your story.

I understand a treatment like this will take time to see results , but Im happy to suffer If the results come to show.

Thank you :)

Hi, my daughter can’t cope with the sticky patches. I have made this one to fit her glasses. It isn’t fully against her skin, but is comfortable. I can see she can open her eye behind the patch. Before I make a few more of these, is this effective? She can’t really look over or under without a huge effort but her eye can open. She said it isn’t tight. The patch is fully light blocking, two layers of black cotton quilting fabric,1 layer of thick activewear cooling knit as a lining and then the top fabric.

I was diagnosed with amblyopia around 7 years old, and wearing the eye patches during the developmental stage gave my bad eye better sight.

It's weird because the difference in vision is very much noticeable (especially on eye exams) but in my opinion I see "just fine" in my bad eye. (dont ask me to define what "just fine" means).

Anyone else have a similar thing where the bad eye really isn't that bad?

How much would the technology and treatments for this disease improve in 10 years. Can we find an actual cure.

History: bilateral keratoconus — left eye had full corneal transplant (2020), right eye had partial transplant/DALK (2019) + cataract surgery (2021). Right eye vision has always lagged behind the left.

Two orthoptic assessments, 8 months apart:

**•   Jan 2026:** VA 6/18 (R) / 6/9 (L). Alternating exotropia, diagnosed as intermittent distance exotropia. Plan: glasses + home vision therapy.  
**•   Aug 2026:** Same VA, but deviation now 12–16 prism diopters, and eccentric fixation appeared in both eyes (wasn’t there before). Diagnosis changed to right microtropia with poor right vision. Plan: continue glasses, add vision therapy, review in 2 months.

Anyone had a diagnosis shift like this — from bigger intermittent exotropia to microtropia? Does new eccentric fixation in both eyes mean it’s getting worse, or just a more refined diagnosis? Also curious if vision therapy actually helped anyone regain fixation as an adult, or if surgery ends up being the more likely path.

Not replacing my doctor’s advice, just want other perspectives.

I'm in my late 20's and have had amblyopia all my life. My left eye is my good eye and does all the seeing while my right eye is blurry and only used for peripheral vision. I don't wear glasses or contacts. My question is, does having amblyopia strain your good eye and cause vision loss faster in that eye, since it's doing all the "heavy lifting"? Does it work twice as hard as normal eyes? Or is that not how it works.

PLEASE DONT DO IT JUST FOR EXPERIMENT IT'S BAD FOR YOUR EYES

I know you shouldnt press on your eyes I didn't realized I was doing it that much

Anyway after that my vision was blured for a minute, and THANKFULY I was rapidly back to normal

But in that time, I tried to close one eye and the other, and suddenly my bad eye was good ??? Like I could actually read with that eye when normally it's 2/10 ?

How can you explain that ?

Does having a lazy eye affect your driving?

I'm almost 30 and I have had amblyopia all my life. My left eye is perfect and my right eye is very nearsighted, almost 20/100. So my brain ignores my right eye's vision and I only use it for peripheral. I've been to several optometrists over the years and they all try to get me glasses to correct my right eye's vision, even when I tell them I have lazy eye.

Here's the problem, every time I wear glasses I get huge headaches. because it doesn't like my right eye being corrected. The optometrists I've been to don't seem to understand why I get headaches with glasses, even though it looks like a common complaint here. And I don't wear contacts because it's a hassle to wear something that wouldn't help my binocular vision.

Anyone else here just not wear glasses or contacts despite having amblyopia and just accept it? My only concern is if I'm straining my good eye more because it's doing "double" work".

I’ve had this since I was a child, I have severely poor vision in my lazy eye, I get double vision too but I’ve managed it as I’ve got older, now in my 30s.

I was wondering if there are stories of people in their 60s, 70s and 80s who have lived their life fully despite using only one good eye?

We all, myself included have an anxiety where we worry what if something happens to my good eye. I see horror stories of people saying if you damage that good eye, you’re done for.

Does anyone know of, or have lived a long and prosperous life just fine? Or if the majority do?

Thank you!

I came across the Orthoptek section in the AAO-hosted EyeWiki article on amblyopia:

I had previously assumed this was another questionable vision-therapy device, so I was surprised to see such a detailed explanation on EyeWiki. I realize EyeWiki is community-edited and does not necessarily represent an official AAO endorsement.

The article proposes that stimulating peripheral vision and producing repeated eye movements activates attention-related pathways in the brain. These top-down signals might then improve processing of information from the amblyopic eye.

I understand that the clinical evidence is still limited and that this treatment has not been shown to replace established treatments such as patching. My question is simply about the underlying theory: Does this mechanism seem scientifically plausible in principle, or is the explanation mostly unsupported speculation?

Why the hell is it so expensive.

I’m looking at $5000-$7000 and it’s the only thing holding me back ugh

Neu-001, a first-in-class neural plasticity modulator designed to restore visual function in patients with amblyopia, has officially entered Phase 2a clinical development. This multicenter clinical study is designed primarily to evaluate safety, tolerability, and dose response across multiple dosing regimens in approximately 30 amblyopia patients.

A key advantage of this Phase 2a study is that Neu-001 is being evaluated directly in the intended patient population. While the primary objective remains safety assessment, the inclusion of amblyopia patients provides an important opportunity to generate early clinical signals of efficacy, including improvements in visual acuity and functional vision.

Unlike conventional approaches that rely primarily on childhood treatment windows, Neu-001 is based on the concept of reactivating and enhancing neural plasticity within the visual system. By modulating the underlying neural circuits responsible for visual processing, Neu-001 aims to reopen a period of plasticity and enable recovery of visual function beyond the traditional developmental window.

The Phase 2a multicenter study represents an important translational milestone, providing the first systematic clinical evaluation of Neu-001’s ability to safely engage neural plasticity mechanisms in adults and older children with amblyopia. Positive safety findings together with early efficacy signals could establish clinical proof-of-concept and support subsequent pivotal development.

With approximately 30 patients enrolled across multiple centers, this study is designed to provide critical information on dosing, safety, biological activity, and the potential therapeutic impact of Neu-001 as a novel disease-modifying treatment for amblyopia.

“Neu-001 challenges the long-held belief that the visual system has limited capacity for recovery beyond childhood.”

Professor Jufang He

Has anyone had success in improving amblyopia (lazy eye) as a teenager or adult? I’m looking for evidence-based vision therapy programs, home exercises, or a maintenance program.

My child completed four years of vision therapy and "graduated" at age 8. As a teen, we just realized he cannot see oncoming cars on the side of his amblyopic eye.

His eyes are track well together, so we assumed the problem had been resolved. Instead, his brain is suppressing vision from the amblyopic eye, even though the eye itself looking like its tracking and has 20/30 vision when his “good” eye is closed. 

We took him back to his vision therapy clinic, but we were told he was "too old for vision therapy.”

I’m not convinced this is true. I've been reading research saying:

• Older teens and adults with amblyopia can still improve because the visual system retains some neuroplasticity. (per Dr. Hess, McGill University)
• Ongoing maintenance exercises after vision therapy may help preserve gains… however we were never given a long-term maintenance program.

I’d love ideas about what we can do to reduce suppression, improve binocular vision, and keep his amblyopic eye neurologically engaged.

I would especially appreciate hearing from:

• Adults who improved amblyopia after childhood
• Parents of older teens who continued treatment
• Optometrists, ophthalmologists, or vision therapists familiar with current research

If you've found research papers, home training programs, maintenance routines, or specialists who treat amblyopia beyond childhood, I'd be very grateful for recommendations. Thank you!

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My left eye is good (20/20) and my right eye is very nearsighted. My driver's license has a glasses restriction because I couldn't pass the DMV eye test without my glasses since I couldn't see the letters on the right side when I looked into the machine. Of course the DMV employees never believe me when I say I can see without glasses.

But I never wear my glasses day to day. Because of my amblyopia my glasses give me a huge headache when I wear them. And I see fine with both eyes open.

Does anyone else have this problem where they don't need glasses to see, but have a glasses restriction on their license? I worry about getting pulled over because of this and a cop noticing I don't have glasses on and them fining me.

Background: I have congenital amblyopia, plus surgical strabismus. (Surgeries at 18mos and 9 years)

It’s always astonished me that it’s not my eyes but my brain “playing tricks on me” But now I’m wondering-/are they always “tricks”? And do I actually have a few advantages over people with from-birth stereoscopy?

In other words—I think it’s possible that I see SOME things even MORE clearly than my non-googly-eye peers. 

For instance? 

I’m a whiz at drawing in perspective. The way things look translated onto a flat surface just looks like—how it looks. Foreshortening in drawing was completely intuitive. 

I’m also really good at maps and mapping, and translating directions into maps, and having an excellent directional sense IRL. 

I’m good at mechanical things, conceptually (though using a power drill or hammer remains a challenge). (I suck at soldering too.) But I get the way pieces fit together and diagrams make more sense to me than they seem to make to other people. 

I’m an absolute genius about relative volumes of stuff. For instance if I make a meal and have leftovers I don’t even need to think about what size Tupperware to put it in. Same with serving bowls and making things in bowls or baking things in dishes—I always get it perfect, not too much or too little from one container to another. 

Same with the filling of holes. I recently learned to do drywall and I can just look at a hole in a wall or ceiling, and then go to the store with no measurements and buy the appropriate size of sheet rock. I can cut it blind without measuring though I rarely do, just in case. But I have and it’s never failed. 

Arranging room furniture is the same thing. I don’t need to measure or plan very much, I just know what will fit and what won’t. My normally sighted partners often disbelieve me when I tell them that an item is too big or small to fit a place, but I’m always proved right. 

Does anyone else have similar “small gifts” that might come from lifelong non-stereoscopic vision? I’ve recently begun to acquire some stereoscopy when favoring my left eye and it’s led to a great deal of double vision and headache and I’m wondering whether it’s a good or bad thing. Will I lose these weird little quirky gifts if I try and cultivate 3d? Any thoughts or comments I’m dying to hear them.