About Stephanie

Miss Stephanie West is a highly-experienced consultant ophthalmologist practicing in Southampton. Miss West treats both adults and children and specialises in cataract surgery, pediatric eye conditions including amblyopia and strabismus, adult squints, double vision and complex oculomotility disorders. She has been a consultant ophthalmologist at Southampton General Hospital since 2013, where she has previously been Clinical Director for Ophthalmology and CESR training program lead.

Her aim is to have a positive impact on her patients by maximising their vision or improving their appearance and quality of life. She firmly believes it is important that patients receive the right diagnosis as early as possible and that they are provided with the full range of treatment options so that they can make informed decisions.

Training

For some people squint can cause visual symptoms; this can be double vision where instead of seeing one image of an object you see two images. This can be very debilitating, causing difficulty doing normal tasks, being unable to drive, struggling with work, their hobbies and sports. Others may just feel they are straining their eyes and tasks, such as reading, can feel uncomfortable as their brain tries to keep both eyes working together.

Others find that they hold their head in a certain position to help control their eyes, for example, tilting to one side. This can have happened for some time and may be noticed looking back at photos. They may complain of neck and back pain as a result.

Squint often causes problems with self- esteem. If you have a squint you may feel self-conscious, concerned that others may notice your eyes are not aligned. Squint can affect your self-image, and cause anxiety particularly in social situations, for example meeting people for the first time or giving presentations. The impact of a squint on your confidence, can affect your personal relationships and your career.

Memberships

Research & Presentations

Stephanie has several research interests; her publications can be viewed by clicking on the link.

Stephanie is regularly invited to give international presentations, her most recent invited talks are:

2021 Royal College of Opthalmologists Congress. Debator for the motion ‘Cataract surgery should be a sub – specialism of ophthalmology’
2021 Royal College of Opthalmologists Congress. ‘When is acute onset squint a worry?’
2021 Biposa webinar ‘ Strabismus Cases’
2020 Allergan CESR training program webinar series