“What are the treatments for 6th nerve palsy?”
I'm a 24 year old female and was diagnosed at age 15 with 6th nerve palsy. Over the years my symptoms became less noticeable until recently. What are the treatments for 6th nerve palsy?
3 Answers
If it does not go away with time, prisms in glasses are used to alleviate double vision. Botox injected directly into the antagonist muscle (the medial rectus on the side of the sixth nerve palsy) will help and last for three months.
Surgery to tighten the week muscle and weaken its antagonist will be a more permanent partial or complete solution. You need to be followed by a pediatric or Neuro-ophthalmologist to make these decisions with you.
Surgery to tighten the week muscle and weaken its antagonist will be a more permanent partial or complete solution. You need to be followed by a pediatric or Neuro-ophthalmologist to make these decisions with you.
In the acute phase, which is generally 6-8 months after the palsy appears, most simply wait to see what spontaneous healing takes place. After that healing cannot improve any further. Adaptation does occur to some degree as you have no doubt discovered. The goal of treatment after spontaneous recovery can occur is to move the position of the eyes to allow single vision in the two most useful positions: straight ahead and straight down. Eye muscle surgery can usually accomplish this. Prisms can be added to glasses to determine how successful this will be and also to temporarily improve things. Rarely, an occlusive patch is recommended for the elusive eye when these methods fail.
Full investigation first. A doctor could help to look for the cause. Eye surgery is possible if needed.
