Amblyopia is one of the main vision disorders that patching is used to treat. But what exactly is amblyopia, what causes it and how is it treated?
According to RANZCO, amblyopia occurs when an eye is turned or when one eye has a much different prescription than the other. The brain essentially ‘shuts off’ the images from the blurry eye, which can lead to permanent vision impairment. Amblyopia must be treated, which is usually through patching or other occlusion therapy, or glasses. This is typically prescribed by an ophthalmologist, orthoptist or optometrist.