When ophthalmologists recommend strabismus surgery, they will most often NOT offer alternatives. More often that not, vision rehabilitation is ignored as an option and dismissed with comments like ‘it doesn’t work’ or ‘it’s a scam’. When pressed, most will also admit to never having studied vision rehabilitation practices, principles, or clinical findings and research. Likewise, most surgeons will downplay a) the lack of science behind strabismus surgery, and b) the risks such as diplopia, and ‘need’ for repeat surgeries.
The ideal is a balanced approach where rehab is attempted first, the surgery as required, followed by rehab. That is, to be fair to parents and patients, all options should be considered, and especially those that are safer.
In the end, the lack of awareness of options is not sufficient grounds to proceed with risky choices. Read more about the ‘science’ of strabismus surgery here:
Looking for controlled studies in strabismus surgery.pdf
Cochrane Review-Interventions for infantile esotropia-2011
Rethy-Gal-Decreasing behav flexibility