Ask Dr. B: Will Contacts Help Duane Syndrome?

Apr 08, 2009

My son has Duane Syndrome and the doctor today said that he has to wear contact lenses as he is not cooperating to wear glasses ……. What do you think?

Does wearing glasses or contacts ever help people with Duane? I get mixed messages on this.

First, a couple of things. I haven't examined your son so I can only give you general advice. Also, I always recommend that you should follow the advice of your doctor or get a second opinion from another if you don't feel comfortable with the advice. If you live in the Tampa area, I would be happy to evaluate your son and give specific recommendations.

Now, on to your questions. First, can your son wear contacts? Well, as I discuss in this post, even very young babies can wear contacts with the help and training of your doctor. Of course, the younger your son is, the more help he will need. As he gets older, he'll become better and more independent with them. There indeed are some conditions that glasses cannot help but contacts can.

Second, can contacts help the Duane Syndrome? Duane syndrome is a condition of the nerves and muscles of the eyes so contacts will not improve the Duane Syndrome directly. Surgery or, less commonly, vision therapy may be helpful. But it is extremely common for there to be other vision problems that occur at the at same time. Treating these problems may minimize the head turns and double vision that are caused by Duane syndrome.

If you haven't seen these, you can get more detailed info here, here, and here.