Look the world in the eye with confidence – Quality of Life benefit from Strabismus surgery and Botox for strabismus

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“Having the toxin treatment has allowed me to look the world in the eye with confidence. So much of professional life is down to whether your face fits.” This is a quote from a patient who I treated and had undergone more than 25 treatments with botulinum toxin (Botox) to treat her strabismus.

With my colleagues, I undertook a prospective Quality of Life study during my fellowship at Moorfields Eye Hospital. We undertook a study looking at the impact botulinum toxin(Botox) had on the Quality of Life in patients who had undergone long term treatment to maintain the alignment of their eyes.¹A strabismus (squint or cross-eye) affects the way one perceives themselves as well as how they are perceived by others.

On average, people who have aligned eyes have quality of life (QOL) scores of 84, but people with strabismus have a significantly lower score of 50; this is similar to the score of people who have suffered from a stroke.  Strabismus surgery results in the QOL score to returns to near normal values. Similarly we were able to show that the patients who underwent Botox treatment also achieved near normal QOL scores of 79.

Strabismus can negatively affects many aspects of their lives including, self image, job prospects, relationships and self-esteem. When surgery has failed or is not an option, Botox can be an option in many people.

To find out more: The effect on quality of life of long-term botulinum toxin A injections to maintain ocular alignment in adult patients with strabismus. J Hancox, Shanel Sharma, K MacKenzie, GA Adams. British Journal of Ophthalmology. 2012;96(6) 838-40.