Our lad is 2 and a half, and has a small squint, an inward turn of one eye. It’s been treated from an early age with glasses, which worked great for getting his vision up to scratch, and OK for the appearance of the squint. Anyhow, he had squint surgery (to adjust the muscles on the eyeball) before Christmas that has improved things further – it’s still there a wee bit though (in glasses – it will always be present without).

Has anyone else had this operation (themselves or their kids) and how did it turn out? I’m wondering if it is reasonable to expect 100% perfect correction – it sounds a bit hit and miss when the surgeon described the operation, and subsequent secondary ops are often carried out.

My daughter (now 9) was diagnosed with a squint about a year ago but this has been corrected with glasses.

My wife had an operation about 6 years ago for a divergent squint and, as you say, it all sounded a bit ‘we’ll whip a bit of muscle out and see how it goes’ but she’s been fine since.

Like most ‘delicate’ ops – it relies on the skill and experience of the surgeon to judge exactly what to do in each case.

My wife was warned that it may return and require further attention int he future, though.

I had an outward turn of the eye and had the operation done three times as a child (aged , 5 and 9). My mum was very vain on my behalf and basically pushed the opthalmic surgeons hard to get it right.

The operations were painful but I remember how nice the hopsital staff were and am incredibly grateful for having it done. My eyes are still not perfectly in sync but very few can tell.

So I guess you should be prepared for not 100% success but it is worth having done – your daughter will thank you for it one day.

I had both eyes done as a kid. No real problems other that I struggle to use both eyes together so I can not see any of these fancy new 3d movies

I had it done when I was 10 for an outward looking eye. It worked for a while but nowadays it’s back to how it was.

Normally with squint surgery if the deviation from straight is up to about 5 degrees another op won’t be advised, as you may get a consecutive outward stabismus (exotropia) instead of his esotropia (turning in)

Always make sure his spex are up to date and with as much plus power as he can tolerate, this will help to relax his accommodation and mimimise the turn. If he only squints when reading then bifocals or varifocals may help to keep his eyes straight.

If he’s only 2 theres still time before his visual system matures to get good vision in both eyes and some degree of binocular vision.

100% correction can be tricky depending on the case and skill of the surgeon.

Thanks all – interesting to hear people’s experiences.

For our lad, the orthoptics people have always stressed that vision is the name of the game at his age, with the cosmetic appearance secondary (I believe you can have squint surgery at any age). But it would be great if it could get straightened out entirely. See how it goes I guess as he grows up.

My daughter had the operation and it seems to have mostly worked, when she is tired it comes back a little. The surgeon that did it said it may take a couple of attempts. We asked him if he would have it done to his kids before deciding. He recommended to have one operation then leave it until she could make the call whether she wanted it done when she had grown up a bit if required. It was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. Good luck. She doesn’t need glasses now

I know what you mean with it being a hard decision – seeing the wee man get the general anaesthetic and then getting wheeled off – tiny body lain on a massive hospital bed – was quite emotional.

I must admit I don’t understand the whole glasses wearing business – I’m long sighted (a bit) and have never needed glasses. Our bairn’s also long sighted, but apparently will always need them (?) on account of the squinty eye.

So I have never had to wear glasses after the surgery