Can laser eye surgery help my amblyopia?

Amblyopia, sometimes called "lazy eye," is a neurologic problem of childhood that inhibits development of full vision potential. As such, it is not directly "fixable" with LASIK or any other refractive procedure. But since amblyopia is typically caused by a large refractive error in the affected eye that is much less or even absent in the other eye, it is possible to use laser eye surgery to reduce or eliminate that refractive error. This can bring it into a better and more useable balance with the other eye. The limitation to this is what is called "best corrected visual acuity" or what the eye can see with a well-fit contact lens or spectacle lens.

_Written by J. Trevor Woodhams, M.D. - Chief of Surgery, Woodhams Eye Clinic