Squint surgery in very less cost

We all have seen squint and its effect but one of the most daunting questions that people have with respect to squint is in regards to the cost of its treatment. This blog aims to talk in detail on the various types of squint and various steps associated with it.

How is squint treated?

Once a patient visits Pixel Eye Hospital with a squint concern, the first step is recording a detailed history of the patient. In case of children, parents would need to provide the necessary information. This process itself could take somewhere around 15 to 20 minutes. Information such as “how long the patient has had squint”, “did the onset of squint begin in childhood or was it recent”, “did the patient get hurt in recent times or has had a paralysis attack”, “was there a sudden increase in the power of the glasses”, “did the patient visit another doctor or hospital before and if so, what was the treatment provided so far”.

Next step after the recording of history, is a complete vision and refractive work up. This includes knowing the power of the glasses, whether it is plus or minus. If the patient has Amblyopia, that is the power of one eye is more than the power of the other and can vision be improved in it.

Squint Evaluation is the next part of this workup, this includes knowing the degree to which the eye has moved out or moved in and what are the muscles involved in the squint. This work up could include the below tests:

1. Hirschberg test, done to check the ocular alignment
2. Covered, uncovered test, one eye at a time
3. PBCT test or prism bar cover test
4. Multiple nine gauge tests done in all directions to know the degree of squint from every side

Squint evaluation on a whole can take somewhere around 10 mins to sometimes even around 30 to 45 minutes based on the complexity. Another point to be noted is that, doctor might suggest multiple repetitions of the squint evaluation to ensure the degree of squint and muscles involved are identified perfectly.

Next comes the retinal evaluation, in this, drops are put in the eyes to dilate the retina and later evaluated to assess retinal health, optic nerve health, and overall visual function. Some people might get squint a few days or weeks after birth, this could be due to retinal problems. Once the evaluation is complete, the next step is the process of treatment.

Squint treatment

Squint treatment can generally be divided into three broad categories, such as:

Glasses
People who have had squint due to improper glasses use or improper power in glasses or who have not been using glasses even though their eyes are having a high power can benefit from using the right set of spectacles, in this case the result could sometimes be immediate and sometimes over a period of time.

Orthoptist
Certain convergence exercises such as dot card or Bronx string are given, these exercises may help improve eye coordination in selected cases depending on the type of squint. Patch treatment could also be used for the same.

Surgery
Based on how many muscles are involved and how much degree of squint is present, the number of sittings required for the Squint eye surgery in Hyderabad is decided and whether it needs to be done on one eye or both eyes also would be determined. Surgery can take anywhere from one to one and half or two hours.

Above described is the entire journey of squint diagnosis and treatment. Glasses and convergence exercises do not cost much and can be dealt with in a couple of thousands. However, in case of surgery, the cost depends on factors such as number of eyes to be operated, the number of muscles involved and degree to be corrected. It can vary anywhere around from Rs. 40,000 to Rs.1,20,000 or more based on the complexity.

Patients seeking evaluation and treatment for squint can consult the eye care team at Pixel Eye Hospitals, Kukatpally and Sanath Nagar, Hyderabad, for a comprehensive assessment and appropriate treatment guidance.