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You are here: Home / Science / Why are some people born cross-eyed and what is it called if they point outward?

Why are some people born cross-eyed and what is it called if they point outward?

March 20, 2020 by Karen Hill

The opposite of cross-eyed is wall-eyed, but any kind of deviation from both eyeballs pointing straight ahead is called strabismus.

The technical terms for these conditions are esotropia (cross-eyed) and exotropia (wandering eyes, or walleyed). Hypertropia is when one eye wanders up.

About 5 percent of all children have some degree of strabismus, which most of the time can be corrected with surgery.

If you cross your eyes they won’t stay stuck that way?

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Filed Under: Science

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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