Crossed Eyes (Strabismus)

Diagnosis

Your doctor will ask about your child's medical history, and will test how well your child sees with each eye. The doctor will evaluate the alignment of your child's eyes, looking for evidence of uncoordinated eye movements. In infants and young children with limited ability to cooperate, the doctor will test alignment by comparing the position of a light reflecting off each eye. However, this test may not detect intermittent strabismus unless the strabismus is occurring at the time of testing. In children who are able to cooperate, both intermittent and constant strabismus can be detected using the "cover-uncover" and "alternating cover" tests. In these tests, the child stares at an object and the examiner watches the response of each of the child's eyes when the other is covered and uncovered.

Expected Duration

The intermittent strabismus seen in infants is associated with normal development and typically goes away before 3 months of age. Other types of strabismus do not go away unless treated.