What is breast lift surgery?

A breast lift, also known as mastopexy, raises the breasts by removing excess skin and tightening the surrounding tissue to reshape and support the new breast contour.

Sometimes the areola becomes enlarged over time, and a breast lift will reduce this as well.

A breast lift can rejuvenate your figure with a breast profile that is more youthful and uplifted.A woman’s breasts often change over time, losing their youthful shape and firmness. These changes and loss of skin elasticity can result from:

• Pregnancy
• Breastfeeding
• Weight fluctuations
• Aging
• Gravity
• Heredity

What breast lift surgery can’t do

Breast lift surgery does not significantly change the size of your breasts or round out the upper part of your breast.If you want your breasts to look fuller, consider breast lift and breast augmentation surgery.

If you want smaller breasts, consider combining breast lift and breast reduction surgery.

Breast lift risks and safety

The decision to have plastic surgery is extremely personal, and you’ll have to decide if the benefits will achieve your goals and if the risks and potential complications of breast lift surgery are acceptable.

You will be asked to sign consent forms to ensure that you fully understand the procedure and any breast lift risks and potential complications.

Breast lift risks include:

• Anesthesia risks
• Bleeding or hematoma formation
• Infection
• Poor healing of incisions
• Changes in nipple or breast sensation, which may be temporary or permanent
• Breast contour and shape irregularities
• Breast asymmetry
• Fatty tissue found deep in the skin might die (fat necrosis)
• Fluid accumulation
• Potential partial or total loss of nipple and areola
• Deep vein thrombosis, cardiac and pulmonary complications
• Possibility of revisional surgery

These risks and others will be fully discussed prior to your consent. It is important that you address all of your questions directly with your plastic surgeon.

Breast lift and breast implant placement

Some women may want to consider placement of a breast implant in addition to the breast lift.

An implant can provide improved upper breast fullness or cleavage. Implants can be placed at the same time or as a second procedure, depending on the experience of the surgeon.

Preparing for breast lift surgery

In preparing for breast lift surgery, you may be asked to:

• Get lab testing or a medical evaluation
• Take certain medications or adjust your current medications
• Get a baseline mammogram before surgery and another one after surgery to help detect any future changes in your breast tissue
• Stop smoking
• Avoid taking aspirin, anti-inflammatory drugs and herbal supplements as they can increase bleeding

Liposuction is a cosmetic procedure that removes fat that you can’t seem to get rid of through diet and exercise.

A plastic or dermatologic surgeon usually does the procedure on your hips, belly, thighs, buttocks, or face to improve their shape. But liposuction can also be done with other plastic surgeries, including facelifts, breast reductions, and tummy tucks.

Liposuction removes fat from your body using suction. During liposuction, small, thin, blunt-tipped tubes (cannula) are inserted through tiny cuts in the skin. Fat is suctioned out through these tubes as the doctor moves the tubes around under the skin to target specific fat deposits.

In recent years, improved techniques have made liposuction safer, easier, and less painful. These newer techniques include:

• Tumescent liposuction. A local anesthetic is used to numb the area of your body where the tube will be inserted. Next, a large amount of an anesthetic solution containing lidocaine and epinephrine is injected into the fatty tissue before traditional liposuction is done. Tumescent liposuction may not require general anesthesia (which makes you sleep through the procedure).
• Ultrasound-assisted liposuction. This technique uses ultrasound to liquefy the fat, which makes it easier to remove. This technique may be particularly helpful in removing fat from the neck, upper abdomen, sides, and back.
• Laser-assisted liposuction. This technique uses low-energy waves to liquefy the fat, which is removed through a small cannula.

Liposuction is usually done as an outpatient procedure in a properly equipped doctor’s office, ambulatory surgery center, or hospital. In general, it does not require an overnight hospital stay unless a large volume of fat is being removed. Local anesthesia is used in some cases. And you may or may not be given a sedative to help you relax. If a large area or volume of fat is being treated, general anesthesia or deep sedation with a local anesthetic may be used.

What To Expect After Treatment

After the procedure, the area of the body that was treated is firmly wrapped to help reduce swelling, bruising, and pain. Elastic bandages and tape, support hose (such as those used to treat varicose veins), a special girdle, or another type of firm-fitting garment may be used, depending on which part of the body was treated. You may have to wear the compression garment or wrap for 3 to 4 weeks. Expect a lot of bruising and swelling for at least the first 7 to 10 days.

Fluid may drain from the incision sites for several days. You may be given antibiotics to reduce the risk of infection.

Most people are able to get up and move around as soon as the treatment is finished and after the effects of the anesthesia and any sedation have worn off. You can return to your normal activities as soon as you feel comfortable, although this may take several days to a few weeks. Most people can return to work within a few days. Recovery may take longer if large areas were treated.

Why It Is Done

The main purpose of liposuction is to reshape one or more areas of your body, not to reduce body weight. Liposuction is typically used on “problem” areas that have not responded well to diet and exercise. These areas are often on the outer thighs and hips on women and the waist and back on men. The face, neck, abdomen, back, buttocks, legs, and upper arms are all commonly treated areas.

Liposuction is sometimes used in combination with other cosmetic surgery procedures, such as a “tummy tuck” (abdominoplasty), breast reduction, or face-lift.

Liposuction may also be used to treat certain medical conditions, including:

• Benign fatty tumors (lipomas).
• Abnormal enlargement of the male breasts (gynecomastia or pseudogynecomastia).
• Problems with metabolism of fat in the body (lipodystrophy).
• Excessive sweating in the armpit area (axillary hyperhidrosis).

Liposuction is not used to treat obesity. It will not get rid of cellulite or stretch marks.

How Well It Works

Liposuction is usually very effective at removing fat deposits in small areas. But if you regain weight after having liposuction, the fatty bulges that were removed are likely to return or may appear in a different place.

Some improvement in body contour is usually noticeable right after surgery. And improvement may continue for several weeks or even months as the swelling goes away. The full effects of having liposuction may not be visible for several months to a year.

Liposuction (except for laser liposuction) generally does not tighten the skin over the treated area. After fat has been removed, the skin around the area may be somewhat loose. It may take up to 6 months for the skin to tighten around the treated area. Some people’s skin is very elastic and retracts more quickly than other people’s skin. Younger skin tends to have greater elasticity than older skin.

People who expect liposuction to help them lose weight are usually disappointed.

Risks

Liposuction done by an experienced doctor in a properly equipped facility is usually safe. Having more than one area treated, or having a very large area treated, may increase the risk of complications during or after the procedure.

Common side effects of liposuction include:

• Temporary swelling, bruising, soreness, and numbness in and around the treated areas.
• Irritation and minor scarring around the incision sites where the cannulas were inserted.
• Baggy or rippling skin. The skin will usually tighten and retract after a few months. But in some people the skin may remain somewhat loose.

Less common side effects include:

• Permanent color changes in the skin.
• Uneven skin surface over the treated area.
• Damage to the nerves and skin. The heat generated during ultrasound-assisted liposuction may burn the skin or damage the tissue under the skin.

If you gain weight after having liposuction, your body may store the new fat in a different place than where you had fat cells removed. New fat can grow deep inside your body, around your organs, such as your heart or liver. This type of fat can be more harmful to your body than fat that is stored near the surface of your body, such as on your hips or thighs. So people who have liposuction need to be careful not to gain extra weight.

Dangerous complications

Although death is very rare with liposuction, it can happen. If you are having a large amount of fat removed, are obese, or have health problems, your risks go up. Possible complications include:

• Excessive blood and fluid loss, leading to shock. But this is extremely unlikely.
• Fat clots or blood clots, which may travel to the lungs (pulmonary embolism) and become life-threatening.
• Buildup of fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema). This is most likely to occur when a large volume of fluid is injected into the body.
• Infection. In some cases, antibiotics may be given before or after liposuction to help prevent infection.
• Toxic reaction to the injected solution (lidocaine toxicity), especially if large areas or many areas are treated at one time.
• A puncture into the cavity containing the abdominal organs or damage to an organ such as the spleen.

Liposuction should not be done in people who have severe heart problems, who have blood-clotting disorders (such as thrombophilia, a disorder in which the blood clots easily or excessively), or during pregnancy.

What are spider veins?

In some women, spider veins—those small clusters of red, blue or purple veins that appear on the thighs, calves and ankles—become noticeable at a young age. For others, the veins may not become obvious until much later.

 

Causes of spider veins

A number of factors may contribute to the development of spider veins in the legs, including:

• Heredity
• Hormonal shifts
• Occupations or activities that require prolonged sitting or standing
• Pregnancy
• Weight fluctuation

There are effective, safe and relatively painless methods available for reducing spider veins.

Spider vein treatment procedure steps

Your spider vein treatment procedure may include the following steps:

Injection

The common method of treating spider veins in the legs and ankles is called sclerotherapy.

During treatment, a sclerosing solution is injected into the affected veins. The injection irritates the inside of the vein, and over time the vein will collapse and fade from view.

If you have multiple spider veins, the treatment will require multiple injections to collapse all the veins.

Bright light and magnification may be used to ensure maximum precision while injecting the sclerosing solution.

Post-injection

After treatment, the area may be dressed with compressive tape or stockings, or an elastic Ace wrap for a period of time.

The veined area often looks a bit bruised initially, and the color slowly fades over the course of a few weeks.

Some people can have a bit of brownish discoloration (hyperpigmentation) occur to the area during the healing process. This hyperpigmentation fades as well, but may take months.

Laser treatment option

Spider veins may also be treated with a laser.

In this method, an intense beam of light is directed at the spider vein, which obliterates it through the skin.

More than one laser session may be needed to obtain the desired results. Sometimes, laser therapy is used in combination with sclerotherapy.

 

Motherhood has its rewards. Sagging or shrunken breasts and protruding stomachs are not among them. When exercise and diet don’t work, many women turn to plastic surgery to correct the unwanted after effects of childbearing and breastfeeding. Mommy makeover is multiple plastic surgery procedures that restore or improve their post pregnancy bodies.

During pregnancy the skin, muscles stretches resulting in laxity of the muscle, skin with stretch marks after the delivery. In most of the women due to lack of exercise/dieting post delivery/or in spite of doing exercises/dieting the muscle will not regain the tone/skin will not go for contraction resulting in the following combinations. Large abdomen mimicking pregnancy shape due to fat deposition, lax muscles and protrusion of abdominal contents outside or combination of the both with stretch marks. May be due to diverication of the recti, weakening of the muscle resulting in pregnancy appearance, may result in hernia in future date. Only lax skin with stretch marks without lax muscle. Only lax muscle without lax skin. Baby breast feeding may cause breasts to loose volume or sag. Rarely large breasts due to pregnancy may remain large.

Mommy make over surgery includes what surgeries?
Tummy tucking
Liposuction
Breast augmentation
Breast lift/tightening

Other surgeries are
Breast reduction
Areola reduction
Vaginal tightening
Labia reduction
Arm reduction
Face lift etc

Brief description about common procedures
Breast augmentation enhances the breast size using implants or by using available breast tissue. The surgery takes 2-3 hours and can be done on outpatient facility. Most patients are able to return to work in a few days.

Tummy tuck is a major surgical procedure in which the surgeon removes excess skin and fat from the abdomen and tightens the muscles of the abdomen wall. This procedure leaves the patient with a scar, which can extend from hip to hip. Most of them will recover after 2 week Correct time for this surgery- A year after delivery any time can be done. It is advisable no to do these procedures if the patient is planning to have few more children. No insurance cover, unless the patient is having hernia of the abdomen. All the procedures can be done together if the person is in a good health

Length:

2-6 hours, depends on the number of procedures

Anesthesia:

General anesthesia will be given.

Inpatient/Outpatient:

Depending on the type of surgery can be done on outpatient basis/or require admission for 48 hours.

Possible Side Effects/Risks:

Any surgical procedure will have side effects, depends on the type of surgery/to be discussed in detail before the surgery.

Recovery:

Depends on the type of procedure, in general will take about a weeks time.

Results:

Appreciable change will be seen with improved self confidence.

What are styes and chalazia?

Styes and chalazia are lumps in or along the edge of an eyelid. They may be painful or annoying, but they are rarely serious. Most will go away on their own without treatment.

• A stye  is an infection that causes a tender red lump on the eyelid. Most styes occur along the edge of the eyelid. When a stye occurs inside the eyelid, it is called an internal hordeolum (say “hor-dee-OH-lum”).
• A chalazion (say “kuh-LAY-zee-on”) is a lump in the eyelid. Chalazia (plural) may look like styes, but they are usually larger and may not hurt.

Styes and chalazia may be related to blepharitis, a common problem that causes inflammation of the eyelids.

What causes a stye or chalazion?

Styes are caused by a bacterial infection. Usually the bacteria grow in the root (follicle) of an eyelash. An internal hordeolum is caused by infection in one of the tiny oil glands inside the eyelid.

A chalazion forms when an oil gland in the eyelid becomes blocked. If an internal hordeolum doesn’t drain and heal, it can turn into a chalazion.

What are the symptoms?

A stye usually starts as a red bump that looks like a pimple along the edge of the eyelid.

• As the stye grows, the eyelid becomes swollen and painful, and the eye may water.
• Most styes swell for about 3 days before they break open and drain.
• Styes usually heal in about a week.

A chalazion starts as a firm lump or cyst under the skin of the eyelid.

• Unlike styes, chalazia often don’t hurt.
• Chalazia grow more slowly than styes. If a chalazion gets large enough, it may affect your vision.
• The inflammation and swelling may spread to the area surrounding the eye.
• Chalazia often go away in a few months without treatment.

How is a stye or chalazion diagnosed?

Doctors diagnose these problems by closely examining the eyelid. It may be hard to tell the difference between a stye and a chalazion. If there is a hard lump inside the eyelid, the doctor will probably diagnose it as a chalazion.

How are they treated?

Home treatment is all that is needed for most styes and chalazia.

• Apply warm, wet compresses for 5 to 10 minutes, 3 to 6 times a day. This usually helps the area heal faster. It may also help open a blocked pore so that it can drain and start to heal.
• Use an over-the-counter treatment. Try an ointment (such as Stye), solution (such as Bausch and Lomb Eye Wash), or medicated pads (such as Ocusoft Lid Scrub).
• Let the stye or chalazion open on its own. Don’t squeeze or open it.
• Don’t wear eye makeup or contact lenses until the area has healed.

If a stye is not getting better with home treatment, talk to your doctor. You may need a prescription for antibiotic eye ointment or eyedrops. You may need to take antibiotic pills if infection has spread to the eyelid or eye.

If a stye or chalazion gets very large, the doctor may need to pierce (lance) it so it can drain and heal. Do not try to lance it yourself.

How can you prevent styes and chalazia?

• Don’t rub your eyes. This can irritate your eyes and let in bacteria. If you need to touch your eyes, wash your hands first.
• Protect your eyes from dust and air pollution when you can. For example, wear safety glasses when you do dusty chores like raking or mowing the lawn.
• Replace eye makeup, especially mascara, at least every 6 months. Bacteria can grow in makeup.
• If you get styes or chalazia often, wash your eyelids regularly with a little bit of baby shampoo mixed in warm water.
• Treat any inflammation or infection of the eyelid promptly.

Immunotherapy :

This inflammation of the eyelids is the most common cause of dry eyes. It can result from:

• An excess growth of bacteria that’s normally found on your skin
• A blocked oil gland on your eyelid
• A hormone imbalance
• Allergies

What Are the Symptoms?

It makes your eyelids red, itchy, and a little swollen. The bases of your eyelashes may also look scaly. You might also notice:

• Feeling like something is in your eye
• A burning feeling in the eye
• Sensitivity to light
• Red and swollen eyes or eyelids
• Blurry vision
• Dry eyes
• Crusty eyelashes

How Is Blepharitis Treated?

There is no cure. But it can be treated and controlled. Just take care of your eyelids. If you don’t treat blepharitis, it could scar or injure your eye.

If you have blepharitis, take the steps listed below to help cleanse your eye:

• Wet a clean washcloth in warm (not hot) water.
• Wring it out and place it over your closed eyelids for 5 minutes.
• Rewet as necessary to keep it warm. This will help soften crusts and loosen oily debris.

If your doctor advises:

• Make a solution of half baby shampoo or mild soap, half water. Place the cloth over your index finger, dip it in the mix, and use it to clean your eyelid.
• Wash one lid at a time. Close the eye you’re cleaning. Rub the washcloth over your eyelashes and the edge of your lids for about 30 seconds to loosen clogged oils. Apply light pressure to squeeze out clogged oils from the glands behind your lashes.
• Rinse thoroughly with a clean, warm, wet washcloth. Pat dry.

If the blepharitis results from a problem with your oil glands, the doctor may suggest a testosterone cream to put on your eyelids. He may also suggest LipiFlow, a 12-minute procedure that gently heats clogged glands and applies mild pressure to “milk out” the oils.

Can I Prevent Blepharitis?

• Keep your eyelids clean.
• Remove all eye makeup before bedtime.
• Don’t use eyeliner on the back edges of your eyelids behind the lashes.
• If you’re in the early stages of treating blepharitis, you can prevent further irritation by not using makeup.
• Once you do start to use it again, replace products used in or near your eyelids. They may be contaminated.

Most often presenting as a keyhole-shaped pupil, coloboma may affect one or both eyes.

Persons with this problem of the iris often have fairly good vision, but those with it involving the retina may have vision loss in specific parts of the visual field, which can cause problems with reading, writing, and close-up work or play.

Large retinal colobomas, or those affecting the optic nerve, can cause vision loss that cannot be completely corrected with glasses or contact lenses.

This eye condition is estimated to occur in about one in 10,000 people. It is typically discovered at birth, although it does not always affect vision or the outward appearance of the eye.

Because this condition can be associated with other health conditions affecting the eye and other parts of the body, careful evaluation and monitoring of a child with coloboma is important. Although symptoms can be managed, there is currently no cure for the condition.

Symptoms of Coloboma:

Persons with an isolated coloboma may have normal vision and no symptoms, or they may have mild to severe vision impairment. How vision is affected depends on where the gap or gaps occur in the eye. Symptoms may include:

• Keyhole-shaped pupil
• Light sensitivity or photophobia (usually occurs with iris coloboma)
• Vision impairment or loss that may not always be correctable

What Other Conditions Are Associated With Coloboma?

Coloboma may occur by itself — which is described as nonsyndromic or isolated. It may occur with other conditions or as part of a syndrome that affects other organs and tissues in the body. Some people with coloboma have associated eye abnormalities, including:

• Microphthalmia – one or both eyeballs are abnormally small
• Anophthalmia – no eyeball forms at all
• Cataract – clouding of the lens of the eye
• Glaucoma – increased pressure inside the eye that can damage the optic nerve
• Vision problems such as nearsightedness (myopia)
• Nystagmus – involuntary back-and-forth eye movements
• Retinal detachment – separation of the retina from the back of the eye
• Eyelid coloboma – gaps that occur in the eyelids are also called colobomas, but they arise from abnormalities in different structures during early development

Ocular Coloboma may be a feature of the following syndromes:

• Renal coloboma Asyndrome – characterized by optic nerve dysplasia and renal hypodysplasia
• CHARGE syndrome – characterized by coloboma, heart defects, atresia, retarded growth and development, genital hypoplasia (undescended testicles), and ear abnormalities
• Cat eye syndrome – characterized by coloboma, anal atresia, and an extra chromosome
• Morning glory syndrome – optic disc coloboma that may be accompanied by cranial facial, neurologic, and other symptoms

What Causes Coloboma to Develop?

The bottom line is, it results from abnormal development of the eye during the third trimester of gestation, when the eye is forming. The defect occurs when the optic fissure does not close completely. Its location depends on which part of the optic fissure fails to close.

Coloboma may occur spontaneously or it may be inherited. Persons with isolated coloboma can still pass the condition onto their children.

When it occurs as a feature of a genetic syndrome or chromosomal abnormality, it may cluster in families according to the inheritance pattern for that condition.

Environmental factors that affect early development, such as the exposure to alcohol and certain drugs during pregnancy, may increase the risk of coloboma.

How is Coloboma Diagnosed in Adults and Children?

Coloboma is often identified at birth by hospital staff, or by a parent who may notice something different about their baby’s pupil. A baby will be evaluated by an ophthalmologist who will perform a complete eye examination to determine how much of the eye is affected.

The examination typically involves use of an ophthalmoscope to look inside the baby’s eyes. The baby may be given a general anesthetic to avoid causing any distress during the examination. At this age, it is difficult to tell whether the baby will have vision problems.

A child with coloboma will be monitored closely by their ophthalmologist, and their vision will be tested on a regular basis.

In addition to an eye examination, a baby may undergo other testing to see whether any associated conditions are present, and to check his or her general health. The families of affected children may be referred for genetic counseling.

For the child with an isolated coloboma, this may involve an evaluation to determine the risk of recurrence. A child with a genetic form or a specific syndrome of which coloboma is a part, may be referred for certain genetic tests.

How Can I Manage My Coloboma?

You may not require treatment unless it is causing vision problems. If the child with a coloboma is healthy and has no other eye conditions or complications, then the recommendation may be an eye test every six months up to the age of seven years and then annually thereafter.

The purpose of the eye tests is to monitor the effect of the condition and the child’s eye health. Frequent monitoring of children with this condition is important because of the potential for the development of associated eye conditions, such as glaucoma and retinal detachment.

As children with coloboma get older, they may become concerned about the appearance of their eyes. Cosmetic contact lenses can help make the pupil look round rather than keyhole-shaped.

For children with light sensitivity, tinted glasses, sunglasses, wide-brimmed hats, and sunshades in cars can help reduce discomfort caused by bright lights or the sun.

 

Retinitis is a disease that threatens vision by damaging the retina — the light-sensing tissue at the back of your eye. Although there’s no cure, there are steps you can take to protect your sight and make the most of the vision you have.

Types of Retinitis

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP). This is a group of genetic eye diseases you inherit from one or both parents.

Some examples of RP and related diseases:

• Usher syndrome
• Leber’s congenital amaurosis (LCA)
• Rod-cone disease
• Bardet-Biedl syndrome

CMV retinitis. This is a type of retinitis that develops from a viral infection of the retina.

CMV (cytomegalovirus) is a herpes virus. Most people have been exposed to the virus, but it usually causes no harm. When a herpes virus is reactivated in people with weaker immune systems, it can cause retinitis.

 

Symptoms of Retinitis

Symptoms of RP. You’re most likely to get a diagnosis of RP as a teen or young adult.Vision loss is slow, and the rate of vision change varies from person to person. How quickly it moves depends on the genetic makeup of your RP.

• Early RP symptoms: Loss of night vision, making it harder to drive at dusk or night or to see in dimly lit rooms.
• Later RP symptoms: Loss of side (peripheral) vision, leading to tunnel vision — like looking through a straw.

Symptoms of CMV retinitis. In early stages, CMV retinitis causes no symptoms.

You may develop symptoms, first in one eye, over a few days.

Symptoms may include:

• Floaters (specks or clouds in your field of vision)
• Blurred vision
• Loss of side vision

Just as with RP, symptoms may occur first with central vision. This affects reading and perception of color.

Treatment

If you have retinitis, it’s important to see an eye doctor (ophthalmologist) regularly.

Treatment for RP. Supplements may slow the disease. Research has shown some promise with a combination of vitamin A, lutein, and oily fish high in the omega-3 fatty acid DHA.

Fish high in omega-3 fatty acid include:

• Salmon
• Tuna
• Sardines

Ask your eye doctor how much vitamin A is safe to take. In high levels, it can be toxic.

It may also help to wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from ultraviolet (UV) light.

Researchers are looking into a range of treatment options, such as stem cells, medications, gene therapy, and transplants. They are already making progress. For example, patients in a small genetic study have had some sight restored with genetic therapy. One day, it may be possible to treat RP by inserting healthy genes into your retina.

If you have RP, there are some devices that can help make objects look brighter and larger, such as low-vision magnifiers. These devices can help you remain independent and active.

You can also try rehabilitation services that can help you use the vision you have in a more effective way.

Treatment for CMV retinitis. To help prevent blindness, doctors both treat the retinitis and work to strengthen your immune system.

You may need an antiviral medication such as ganciclovir. You might take pills by mouth or receive an injection into a vein or eye.

 

You may feel like your eyes have a mind of their own. They move up and down, side to side, or in a circle. This is called nystagmus or “dancing eyes.” It’s a condition where you can’t control your eye movements.

What Causes Nystagmus?

It may be a sign of another eye problem or medical condition. You may be born with it, or you might develop it later in life. Nystagmus is caused by many different things, including:

• Being passed down from your parents
• Other eye issues, like cataracts or strabismus
• Diseases like stroke, multiple sclerosis, or Meniere’s disease
• Head injuries
• Albinism (lack of skin pigment)
• Inner ear problems
• Certain medications, like lithium or drugs for seizures
• Alcohol or drug use

Sometimes, your doctor may not know what causes it.

What Are the Symptoms of Nystagmus?

Your eyes move without your control. It might be fast, then slow, then fast again. The movement might be in one eye, but it’s usually in both eyes. You may notice that you nod your head or keep it in strange positions. You do that because it helps you focus when you can’t hold your gaze steady. Things look clearer when you tilt or turn your head.

Objects may seem a little blurry to children with nystagmus. But the world doesn’t look shaky to them. It’s different if you develop the condition as an adult. Then the world appears to move a little when you look around.

Nystagmus may also affect your vision. You might have a hard time seeing in the dark, or you may be sensitive to bright light. You may have problems with balance and dizziness. These can be worse if you’re tired or stressed.

How Do You Treat Nystagmus?

If you developed nystagmus as an adult, there may be simple things you can do to lessen its effects. Sometimes you may just have to stop a medicine or quit drinking alcohol or taking drugs.

Wear the right contacts or glasses to improve vision. It won’t cure nystagmus, but it can help with other eye problems that can make it worse.

Eye muscle surgery may be an option. The goal is to help with the head tilt that often comes with nystagmus. Sometimes surgery improves vision, too.

Some drugs may ease symptoms in adults but not children. These include the anti-seizure medicine gabapentin (Neurontin), the muscle relaxant baclofen (Lioresal), and Botox.

There are things you can do at home to make it easier to deal with your “dancing eyes.” Use large-print books and turn up the print size on your computer, tablet, and phone. More lighting may help with vision, too.

If your child has nystagmus, encourage her to use her eyes. Big and brightly colored toys are easiest to use. Choose toys that make noise and have unique textures.

Let your child hold books close to her eyes with her head tilted. Let her wear a hat or tinted glasses — even indoors — to reduce glare.

Talk to your child’s teacher to make things easier at school. It would be hard for her to share books or papers. Let her choose where to sit so she can see the board and the teacher.