Intermittent exotropia

What is an intermittent exotropia?

An exotropia is an eye muscle condition where one or both of the eyes (not both at the same time) can drift outwards to the side. It is not painful and generally young children are unaware that this is happening.

An intermittent exotropia is where the eye drifts to the side only occasionally. The most common times to see the eye drifting outwards are:

• when your child looks at something very far away
• when your child looks up or to the side
• if your child is tired, not well or not focusing on anything in particular (day dreaming)
• if your child is outside in bright sunshine

Here is a picture of what an exotropia can look like:

What can be done to help? 

Lots of children do not need any treatment. They can be seen at the eye department until they are old enough to have eye tests at the opticians. 

Sometimes the squint can cause one eye to not see as well. If this happens eye patches or eye drops are used to help the vision develop normally in both eyes. 

If the squint happens a lot of the time, or affects your child’s emotional wellbeing, glasses (or a change in lens strength) can keep the eyes straighter. 

An operation can be done to straighten the eyes. This is done by moving the muscles which control eye movements to make them stronger or weaker. Surgery can be done at any age including as an adult. It is best to wait for your child to be old enough for accurate measurements of the squint for the best long term outcome.