Strabismus vs Amblyopia vs Convergence Insufficiency

Strabismus and amblyopia are both binocular vision disorders.

The medical terms for lazy eye are strabismus and amblyopia. Strabismus and amblyopia are both binocular vision disorders. Although they often co-occur and both are often referred to as lazy eye, they are different conditions with vastly different treatments and symptoms.

Strabismus Amblyopia Convergence Disorders
Commonly Called Lazy Eye, Crossed Eye, Squint, Walleye Lazy Eye CI
Types Exotropia, esotropia, hypertropia, hypotropia Refractive, Strabismic, Deprivational Convergence insufficiency, convergence excess
Definition Misalignment of the eyes Decreased visual acuity (clarity) in at least one eye even after correction of the underlying vision problem (such as with glasses). Inability to point the two eyes at the same object.
Symptoms Double vision, loss of depth perception, eye strain, headaches, difficulty driving, difficulty reading Loss of depth perception,  difficulty driving Headaches, eye strain, neck strain, trouble reading, double vision
Signs Cover testing or the Hirschberg test is used in the diagnosis and measurement of strabismus and its impact on vision. Low visual acuity in one or both eyes, out of proportion to the structural abnormality of the eye and excluding other visual disorders as causes for the lowered visual acuity High exophoria at near, reduced accommodative convergence/accommodation ratio, receded near point of convergence, low fusional vergence ranges and/or facility.
% of Population 4% 3% 5%-13%
Treatments Eyeglasses, surgery, vision therapy, vision training, VR eye exercises Eyeglasses, eye patching, atropine eye drops (chemical eye patching), vision therapy, vision training, VR eye exercises

Eyeglasses, prisms, vision therapy, vision training, VR eye exercises, pencil pushups

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  • Eye Problems
  • Ptosis
  • Binocular Vision
  • Vision Tests
  • Suppression Tests
  • Worth 4 Dot
  • Tests of Stereopsis
  • Cover Test
  • Definitions
  • Signs and Symptoms
  • Blurry Vision
  • Reading Problems
  • Eye Strain
  • Driving Problems
  • Headaches
  • Suppression
  • Double Vision
  • Motion Sickness and Car Sickness
  • Pias Vision
  • Visual Skills
  • Visual Tracking
  • Visual Fixation
  • Stereopsis
  • Depth Perception
  • Visual Accommodation
  • Visual Requirements for Baseball
  • Visual Requirements for Pilots
  • Reading
  • Foundational Reading Skills
  • Vision and Learning
  • Fusion
  • Convergence and Divergence
  • Reading Skills
  • Visual Processing
  • Lazy Eye
  • History of Lazy Eye
  • Convergence Disorders
  • Convergence Insufficiency
  • Exophoria
  • Esophoria
  • Medical Terms
  • Accommodation Disorders
  • Accommodative Esotropia
  • Accommodative Insufficiency
  • Amblyopia
  • Lazy Eye in Adults
  • Strabismic Amblyopia
  • Refractive Amblyopia
  • Anisometropia
  • Critical Period
  • Strabismus
  • Anomalous Retinal Correspondence
  • Transient Strabismus
  • Exotropia
  • Esotropia
  • Hypotropia
  • Hypertropia
  • Lazy Eye Treatments
  • Optometric Vision Therapy
  • Eye Exercises
  • Pencil Pushups
  • Brock String
  • Vision Therapy
  • Sports Vision
  • Virtual Reality
  • Red Green Glasses
  • Vision Therapy for Adults
  • Vision Therapy Apps
  • Vectograms
  • Eye Drops for Amblyopia
  • Strabismus Surgery
  • Eye Patching
  • Prism Glasses
  • Dichoptic Training
  • Binasal Occlusion
  • Reading
  • Research
  • VR Research
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