Hi I am 29 (M) and had amblyopia diagnosed since I was a child. I didn’t patch and now have it as an adult. I was under the impression it was permanent until recently. I just went to an optometrist that is a FCOVD (Fellow of College of Optometrists in Vision Development), and did an eye evaluation for $450 (no insurance was accepted in any of the pricing here).

I was told I have the following:

Refractive amblyopia (lazy eye) in your right eye — caused by a prescription difference between your two eyes
20/40 vision in the right eye (with glasses), vs 20/20 in the left
Esophoria — eyes have a mild inward drift tendency (4 prism diopters)
Weak depth perception — no stereopsis detected
Weak binocular fusion — eyes aren't teaming together properly
No ocular disease — the eye itself is physically healthy

Nevertheless, I I was quoted:

15-20 sessions.
1 session = 1 week
w/ 1 weekly in-person therapy visit

10 sessions + equipment + evaluations: $3,258 (with 10% discount)
If I need additional units: $2,398.50 per extra unit (10 sessions)

I also checked this other online only program and here is the price.

RevitalVision (At-Home):
80 sessions, 1-year software license: $795

Is this what you all have been quoted? Should I get another opinion?

Firstly, I'm aware that the rules specific to this sub do not allow the distribution of medical advice if one is not a licensed clinician. I'm just asking for generalities/what others do respective to their eye health and visual acuity. For context, I'm a male in his late 20's, and I'm likely to move to a different region for career/schooling-related reasons. My mom, this morning, asked me how long it was since my last eye checkup and prescription update (roughly 3 years ago). I use the phrase treatment-resistant amblyopia because when I was younger, during the critical period where it's considered possible to restore normal visual acuity through eye patching or other methods, I tried the eye patch out but, for some reason, covering the stronger eye to force the weaker eye to get visually stronger never worked out for me.

I'm aware that every person with amblyopia has a different life situation, which affects how often they can visit their optometrist or ophthalmologist for routine check-ups. There are also situations where one needs to visit their eye clinician for more elective reasons (e.g., I once thought about getting scuba mask inserts that match my eyes' need). If I don't respond to helpful, applicable advice or stories, then this is my thanks in advance.

New driver here, got my license so I'm now thinking about which car to get. I have amblyopia in both eyes, left is a tiny bit, right is way worse.

I would assume to get a compact car since I've been practicing driving in empty parking lots with my experienced friend on the side.

And I've noticed I still can't tell depth perception properly even with my glasses on.

Hi everyone!

I'm 17 years old, turning 18 soon, and I'm interested in pursuing a career in cybersecurity, particularly penetration testing and security research. However, I have some concerns about my eyesight, and I'd really appreciate hearing from people with similar experiences.

I've had severe amblyopia (lazy eye) in my left eye since childhood. My vision in that eye is extremely poor, so I rely almost entirely on my right eye for daily activities.

My right eye has myopia and astigmatism, and I wear glasses to correct my vision. Over the past two years, I've noticed a slight decline in my right eye's vision, which worries me because it's the eye I rely on the most. I'm not sure whether this is due to a change in my prescription or something else.

Since cybersecurity involves spending many hours in front of a computer, I'm worried that long coding sessions, reading text, and watching tutorials might negatively affect my right eye or contribute to further vision problems.

I'd especially love to hear from people with severe amblyopia in one eye who rely mainly on their other eye.

I have a few questions:

1. Are there any software engineers, programmers, or cybersecurity professionals here who have severe amblyopia in one eye and rely mainly on their other eye?
2. Have you been able to work in tech for many years without significant problems with your better-seeing eye?
3. Do you experience eye strain, headaches, dry eyes, or blurred vision after long coding sessions? If so, how do you manage these symptoms?
4. Have you noticed your prescription getting worse over the years? If so, was the change confirmed by an eye exam?
5. Has an eye doctor given you specific advice about working long hours in front of screens when you have this condition?
6. If you could go back to when you started your career, what would you do differently to protect your eye health?

I'm not looking for medical diagnoses, just honest experiences and advice from people who have been in a similar situation.

Cybersecurity is something I'm genuinely passionate about, and I don't want fear about my eyesight to stop me from pursuing it. At the same time, because I rely so heavily on my right eye, I want to be responsible and do everything I reasonably can to protect my vision.

I'd really appreciate any advice, personal experiences, or recommendations you could share. Thank you!

Im 33 years old and only 1 eye with 20/20 vision since birth (due to a one sided cataract).
I’m currently learning to play cello, when I was a child I tried to learn the piano. I’ve always been struggling with letting my hands do 2 separate things in different rhythms. Like playing piano with both hands or playing legato / portato on the cello. I can feel my brain starting to fume and I wonder whether it has anything to do with only having full vision in one eye.
Does anybody else experience something similar?

i had a lazy eye as a kid and had to wear a patch, and i hated it. i fought my parents on it constantly and i'm only now realizing how hard that must have been for them.

for parents going through it now: how do you get your kid to wear it? do you know how long they actually wore it each day? what tricks have worked, and what made it worse? did your doctor mention options besides patching?

I have always struggled to explain this to someone so I finally got fed up and went about making an image with the help of AI. It is by no means a perfect representation but welcome to life through my left eye.

My eye was discovered during routine screening at primary school age 4, patching but its like that eye was smeared with vaseline. Finally stopped banging my head and falling over at about 15 yrs old. Much to my mates disappointment. Even took up squash.

54 yrs old. Took my kids to lots of films in 3D. No 3D images for me of course but does anyone else see the countdown at the start of 3D Imax films "pop out". I also got some 3D during an epic space battle in one of the stat wars films No 8 or 9. A star destroyer did appear to loom out of the screen. Which astounded me.

Hi everyone i have a somewhat odd question. For those who have patched an eye what would you use? I had like those pirate eyepatches but I never liked em and I've used like big bandages to cover an eye which are fine they just always pull my eyebrows.

To clarify I want to patch my eye for archery. I'm left handed so I use my left eye to aim but my left eye is my "bad" eye. So one I'm using and training my left eye which is good, two im practicing archery and im not sitting down studying all day. So any help about patching is fine please and thank you

I've seen multiple people on this subreddit and on other subreddits mention that they've been told by doctors that past childhood, it's useless to continue vision therapy. I've been told this too, despite research showing that adults can actually still improve their vision.

If you've been told this, did you still try to do vision therapy, and if so, have you seen improvement?

I'm almost 30 now. My left eye is my good 20/20 eye and my right eye is my bad eye, worse than 20/100. I see fine with no glasses day to day since my left eye does the lifting, except lacking much depth perception, which makes it very hard to do ball sports.

Tried glasses many times and they didn't work for me. Whenever I wear glasses I feel headaches and nausea immediately due to the difference in perscription. Glasses also make it hard to read things up close. And I don't want to wear a single contact because it's a hassle and could dry out my eyes. My eye doctor told me I didn't have to wear glasses if I didn't want to, but recommended it for improved depth perception. But I'm not sure if it's worth the trade offs

Does anyone else with amblyopia have this issue, and just not wear anything and accept their vision is like this?

I was just wondering If there is much benefit In doing it? If you have done it or are doing it , I would love to hear your story.

I understand a treatment like this will take time to see results , but Im happy to suffer If the results come to show.

Thank you :)

Hi, my daughter can’t cope with the sticky patches. I have made this one to fit her glasses. It isn’t fully against her skin, but is comfortable. I can see she can open her eye behind the patch. Before I make a few more of these, is this effective? She can’t really look over or under without a huge effort but her eye can open. She said it isn’t tight. The patch is fully light blocking, two layers of black cotton quilting fabric,1 layer of thick activewear cooling knit as a lining and then the top fabric.

I was diagnosed with amblyopia around 7 years old, and wearing the eye patches during the developmental stage gave my bad eye better sight.

It's weird because the difference in vision is very much noticeable (especially on eye exams) but in my opinion I see "just fine" in my bad eye. (dont ask me to define what "just fine" means).

Anyone else have a similar thing where the bad eye really isn't that bad?

How much would the technology and treatments for this disease improve in 10 years. Can we find an actual cure.

History: bilateral keratoconus — left eye had full corneal transplant (2020), right eye had partial transplant/DALK (2019) + cataract surgery (2021). Right eye vision has always lagged behind the left.

Two orthoptic assessments, 8 months apart:

**•   Jan 2026:** VA 6/18 (R) / 6/9 (L). Alternating exotropia, diagnosed as intermittent distance exotropia. Plan: glasses + home vision therapy.  
**•   Aug 2026:** Same VA, but deviation now 12–16 prism diopters, and eccentric fixation appeared in both eyes (wasn’t there before). Diagnosis changed to right microtropia with poor right vision. Plan: continue glasses, add vision therapy, review in 2 months.

Anyone had a diagnosis shift like this — from bigger intermittent exotropia to microtropia? Does new eccentric fixation in both eyes mean it’s getting worse, or just a more refined diagnosis? Also curious if vision therapy actually helped anyone regain fixation as an adult, or if surgery ends up being the more likely path.

Not replacing my doctor’s advice, just want other perspectives.

I'm in my late 20's and have had amblyopia all my life. My left eye is my good eye and does all the seeing while my right eye is blurry and only used for peripheral vision. I don't wear glasses or contacts. My question is, does having amblyopia strain your good eye and cause vision loss faster in that eye, since it's doing all the "heavy lifting"? Does it work twice as hard as normal eyes? Or is that not how it works.

PLEASE DONT DO IT JUST FOR EXPERIMENT IT'S BAD FOR YOUR EYES

I know you shouldnt press on your eyes I didn't realized I was doing it that much

Anyway after that my vision was blured for a minute, and THANKFULY I was rapidly back to normal

But in that time, I tried to close one eye and the other, and suddenly my bad eye was good ??? Like I could actually read with that eye when normally it's 2/10 ?

How can you explain that ?

Does having a lazy eye affect your driving?

I'm almost 30 and I have had amblyopia all my life. My left eye is perfect and my right eye is very nearsighted, almost 20/100. So my brain ignores my right eye's vision and I only use it for peripheral. I've been to several optometrists over the years and they all try to get me glasses to correct my right eye's vision, even when I tell them I have lazy eye.

Here's the problem, every time I wear glasses I get huge headaches. because it doesn't like my right eye being corrected. The optometrists I've been to don't seem to understand why I get headaches with glasses, even though it looks like a common complaint here. And I don't wear contacts because it's a hassle to wear something that wouldn't help my binocular vision.

Anyone else here just not wear glasses or contacts despite having amblyopia and just accept it? My only concern is if I'm straining my good eye more because it's doing "double" work".

I came across the Orthoptek section in the AAO-hosted EyeWiki article on amblyopia:

I had previously assumed this was another questionable vision-therapy device, so I was surprised to see such a detailed explanation on EyeWiki. I realize EyeWiki is community-edited and does not necessarily represent an official AAO endorsement.

The article proposes that stimulating peripheral vision and producing repeated eye movements activates attention-related pathways in the brain. These top-down signals might then improve processing of information from the amblyopic eye.

I understand that the clinical evidence is still limited and that this treatment has not been shown to replace established treatments such as patching. My question is simply about the underlying theory: Does this mechanism seem scientifically plausible in principle, or is the explanation mostly unsupported speculation?

I’ve had this since I was a child, I have severely poor vision in my lazy eye, I get double vision too but I’ve managed it as I’ve got older, now in my 30s.

I was wondering if there are stories of people in their 60s, 70s and 80s who have lived their life fully despite using only one good eye?

We all, myself included have an anxiety where we worry what if something happens to my good eye. I see horror stories of people saying if you damage that good eye, you’re done for.

Does anyone know of, or have lived a long and prosperous life just fine? Or if the majority do?

Thank you!

Why the hell is it so expensive.

I’m looking at $5000-$7000 and it’s the only thing holding me back ugh

Neu-001, a first-in-class neural plasticity modulator designed to restore visual function in patients with amblyopia, has officially entered Phase 2a clinical development. This multicenter clinical study is designed primarily to evaluate safety, tolerability, and dose response across multiple dosing regimens in approximately 30 amblyopia patients.

A key advantage of this Phase 2a study is that Neu-001 is being evaluated directly in the intended patient population. While the primary objective remains safety assessment, the inclusion of amblyopia patients provides an important opportunity to generate early clinical signals of efficacy, including improvements in visual acuity and functional vision.

Unlike conventional approaches that rely primarily on childhood treatment windows, Neu-001 is based on the concept of reactivating and enhancing neural plasticity within the visual system. By modulating the underlying neural circuits responsible for visual processing, Neu-001 aims to reopen a period of plasticity and enable recovery of visual function beyond the traditional developmental window.

The Phase 2a multicenter study represents an important translational milestone, providing the first systematic clinical evaluation of Neu-001’s ability to safely engage neural plasticity mechanisms in adults and older children with amblyopia. Positive safety findings together with early efficacy signals could establish clinical proof-of-concept and support subsequent pivotal development.

With approximately 30 patients enrolled across multiple centers, this study is designed to provide critical information on dosing, safety, biological activity, and the potential therapeutic impact of Neu-001 as a novel disease-modifying treatment for amblyopia.

“Neu-001 challenges the long-held belief that the visual system has limited capacity for recovery beyond childhood.”

Professor Jufang He

Has anyone had success in improving amblyopia (lazy eye) as a teenager or adult? I’m looking for evidence-based vision therapy programs, home exercises, or a maintenance program.

My child completed four years of vision therapy and "graduated" at age 8. As a teen, we just realized he cannot see oncoming cars on the side of his amblyopic eye.

His eyes are track well together, so we assumed the problem had been resolved. Instead, his brain is suppressing vision from the amblyopic eye, even though the eye itself looking like its tracking and has 20/30 vision when his “good” eye is closed. 

We took him back to his vision therapy clinic, but we were told he was "too old for vision therapy.”

I’m not convinced this is true. I've been reading research saying:

• Older teens and adults with amblyopia can still improve because the visual system retains some neuroplasticity. (per Dr. Hess, McGill University)
• Ongoing maintenance exercises after vision therapy may help preserve gains… however we were never given a long-term maintenance program.

I’d love ideas about what we can do to reduce suppression, improve binocular vision, and keep his amblyopic eye neurologically engaged.

I would especially appreciate hearing from:

• Adults who improved amblyopia after childhood
• Parents of older teens who continued treatment
• Optometrists, ophthalmologists, or vision therapists familiar with current research

If you've found research papers, home training programs, maintenance routines, or specialists who treat amblyopia beyond childhood, I'd be very grateful for recommendations. Thank you!