Apr 3

Eye problems in children (strabismus, nearsightedness, and more)

If your child can’t see properly with one or both eyes, this can have serious consequences. Learning to read is more difficult and you may have headaches or concentration difficulties.

Therefore, it is important that eye problems are detected at the earliest possible age.

Diagnosis

A child with squint vision will visit the ophthalmologist at a young age because it is a visible deviation. Other abnormalities usually reveal at the age of three or four during the eye exam at the health center. In these cases, your child is referred to the ophthalmologist for examination. In some children, eye defects don’t appear until later or aren’t discovered until they’re older. You often notice it when your child goes to school and it turns out that he is not able to look well at the board or has difficulty concentrating.

Children’s poor vision may be due to frequent use of tablets, phones, and computers. The eyes of a human being grow to about 25 years of life and from the age of eight there may already be a development of myopia. When children spend a lot of time staring at screens, they use their eyes primarily to see up close. Often, this does not always take place in the best light conditions. Therefore, the eyes grow more than normal and the strength of the eyes increases, but also myopia.

Taking your eyes off the screen from time to time and looking into the distance can make a big difference. Reading or playing with enough light is important, as is, of course, playing outdoors frequently. This is also very healthy for the eyes because outdoors the child not only looks closely but also from afar, and the eyes are used well at all distances and can develop well.

Some of the different eye problems can be:

Strabismus

With strabismus, the eyes are not focused on the same point. One eye may be directed inward or outward. As a result, the brain can’t perceive things correctly and your child sees twice or uses only one eye. If this is the case, you may develop a lazy eye. Strabismus is remedied with glasses or by covering the good eye. Sometimes an operation is necessary when the child is around four years old. It is important that you do not cover your eye yourself if you have not been told by a professional.

Lazy eye

If one eye does not develop properly due to bizarreness or farsightedness, it is called a lazy eye. Wearing glasses or covering the good eye, the lazy eye is trained and the defect may disappear. Lazy eye, also known as amblyopia, can only be successfully treated in young children. Therefore, it is important that the deviation is detected in time.

Farsightedness

With this disorder, the images are not projected properly onto the retina. Consequently, a farsighted child does not see things well from afar. If your child suffers from this, he will have to wear glasses to regain clear vision.

Myopia

This is particularly common in children aged six and older. Children with nearsightedness can’t see things that are close. They usually squint, for example, when they look at a book. Glasses can solve this problem. Myopia is probably hereditary.

Astigmatism

A child who suffers from this sees everything very unclearly. This is due to an uneven curvature of the cornea. Glasses with rectified cylindrical lenses are the solution.

Conjunctivitis

If your child has red eyes, tears, swollen eyelids, or wakes up with a yellow scab on their eyelashes, it may be conjunctivitis.

Inflammation of the conjunctiva

The conjunctiva is the thin layer of tissue that covers the outer surface of the eye. Conjunctivitis can occur in one or both eyes. There are different forms of conjunctivitis:

Viral conjunctivitis – bacterial or viral infections, such as a cold, can lead to this highly contagious form;

Allergic conjunctivitis – allergic reaction to pollen, animal hair or dust mites can lead to inflammation of the conjunctiva;

Irritant conjunctivitis: Substances such as chlorine, shampoo or air pollution can irritate the eye. A loose eyelash can also cause this type of conjunctivitis.

Treatment

Conjunctivitis may go away on its own in a few days or a week. Sticky crusts on the eyelids can be gently cleaned with a cotton ball and water. Irritant conjunctivitis should go away on its own if the cause of the irritation, such as a loose eyelash, is removed. If it does not go away on its own, it is best to consult with the specialist.

Drooping eyelids (ptotis)

Hanging eyelids in children occur occasionally and are caused by weakness of the muscle that causes the eyelid to open. If this muscle is very weak, it can lead to poor vision development and a lazy eye. Fatigue, headaches, and the appearance of tiredness can also appear with drooping eyelids. Ptotis can be remedied by eyelid correction. This greatly reduces the risk of lazy eye, strabismus and abnormal eye movements.

Corneal injury (corneal abrasion)

Temporary eye problems may occur due to damage to the eye. Corneal abrasion is an example of this. In this case, the cornea of the front of the eye is damaged, which can lead to various symptoms such as: watery eyes, hypersensitivity to light and general pain in the eye. In the case of a corneal injury, the doctor will prescribe an antibiotic eye drop or eye ointment to prevent an eye infection and speed up the healing process. This other article of our blog in which we talk about what to do if our child puts an object in the eye may also be of your interest, to read it click here

All the information we give you in this article is indicative since each person is different so to establish a diagnosis and treatment it is essential that you go to your doctor.