Eye Movement Disorders

On this page

Summary

When you look at an object, you're using several muscles to move both eyes to focus on it. If you have a problem with the muscles, the eyes don't work properly.

There are many kinds of eye movement disorders. Two common ones are

Strabismus - a disorder in which the two eyes don't line up in the same direction. This results in "crossed eyes" or "walleye."
Nystagmus - fast, uncontrollable movements of the eyes, sometimes called "dancing eyes"

Some eye movement disorders are present at birth. Others develop over time and may be associated with other problems, such as injuries. Treatments include glasses, patches, eye muscle exercises, and surgery. There is no cure for some kinds of eye movement disorders, such as most kinds of nystagmus.

Start Here

Nystagmus (American Academy of Ophthalmology) Also in Spanish
Nystagmus (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus)
Strabismus (Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology) Also in Spanish

Diagnosis and Tests

Dilating Eye Drops (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus) Also in Spanish
Strabismus Measurements (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus)

Treatments and Therapies

Anesthesia for Adults Having Eye Surgery (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus) Also in Spanish
Anesthesia for Children Having Eye Surgery (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus)
Eye muscle repair - slideshow Also in Spanish
Strabismus Surgery (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus)

Related Issues

Abnormal Head Position (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus) Also in Spanish
Conjugate Gaze Palsies (Merck & Co., Inc.)
Internuclear Ophthalmoplegia (Merck & Co., Inc.)
Microvascular Cranial Nerve Palsy (American Academy of Ophthalmology) Also in Spanish
Monocular Elevation Deficiency - Double Elevator Palsy (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus) Also in Spanish
Orthoptist/ Orthoptics (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus)
Palsies of Cranial Nerves That Control Eye Movement (Merck & Co., Inc.)
Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - Short Summary
Pseudostrabismus (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus) Also in Spanish

Specifics

Accommodative Esotropia (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus) Also in Spanish
Brown Syndrome (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus) Also in Spanish
Convergence Insufficiency (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus) Also in Spanish
Dissociated Vertical Deviation (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus) Also in Spanish
Duane Syndrome (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus) Also in Spanish
Esotropia (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus)
Exotropia (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus) Also in Spanish
Oculomotor Apraxia (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus) Also in Spanish

Genetics

Genetics Home Reference: ataxia with oculomotor apraxia (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: CASK-related intellectual disability (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: congenital fibrosis of the extraocular muscles (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: Duane-radial ray syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: horizontal gaze palsy with progressive scoliosis (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: isolated Duane retraction syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: progressive external ophthalmoplegia (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: X-linked infantile nystagmus (National Library of Medicine)
Learning about Duane Syndrome (National Human Genome Research Institute)

Videos and Tutorials

Aligning the Eyes (OR-Live) - Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, MA, 6/21/2011

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Nystagmus, Pathologic (National Institutes of Health)
ClinicalTrials.gov: Ocular Motility Disorders (National Institutes of Health)
ClinicalTrials.gov: Strabismus (National Institutes of Health)

Journal ArticlesReferences and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Reference Desk

Anatomy of the Eye (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus) Also in Spanish
Diagram of the Eye (National Eye Institute) Also in Spanish
Glossary of Terms (Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology)
NEI for Kids: Glossary (National Eye Institute)
Overview of the Cranial Nerves (Merck & Co., Inc.)

Find an Expert

Finding an Eye Care Professional (National Eye Institute) Also in Spanish
National Eye Institute

Children

Infantile Esotropia (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus) Also in Spanish
Seeing Your Way through Strabismus (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Adults

Adult Strabismus (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

Cranial mononeuropathy III Also in Spanish
Cranial mononeuropathy VI Also in Spanish
Eye muscle repair Also in Spanish
Nystagmus Also in Spanish
Strabismus Also in Spanish
Supranuclear ophthalmoplegia Also in Spanish

Topic Image

MedlinePlus Email Updates

MEDICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

National Institutes of Health

The primary NIH organization for research on Eye Movement Disorders is the National Eye Institute

Disclaimers

MedlinePlus links to health information from the National Institutes of Health and other federal government agencies. MedlinePlus also links to health information from non-government Web sites. See our disclaimer about external links and our quality guidelines.