Vision Disorders in Children
Childhood diseases of the visual system often respond well to treatment. With timely medical care, progression of the pathology can often be avoided and surgery prevented.
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Childhood diseases of the visual system often respond well to treatment. With timely medical care, progression of the pathology can often be avoided and surgery prevented.
Vision is one of the important indicators of a child's health. So as not to miss warning signs of vision problems, a child should visit a pediatric ophthalmologist regularly. The earlier vision problems are diagnosed, the easier they are to correct. CSM treats various types of vision disorders in children. We use a range of modern methods and technologies that may help avoid surgical intervention.
A vision disorder is a reduced ability to see, a loss of visual clarity for some reason. It can be caused by refractive and accommodation anomalies, as well as eye diseases that reduce visual acuity.
A child's eye lens tries to adapt to the problem and makes considerable effort to obtain a clear image at any distance. This can provoke eye fatigue and the development of strabismus.
Congenital vision disorders occur in 2% of all newborns. They can be caused by congenital glaucoma, cataract, retrolental fibroplasia of the retina, dacryocystitis and other diseases.
Congenital causes include:
Acquired causes of vision disorders include:
To avoid worsening of vision, preventive visits to the doctor are necessary. They should begin in the first months of life. Schoolchildren require special attention. When the active learning process begins, the strain on the eyes increases significantly, which can negatively affect a child's health.
A child's visual system develops gradually. In the first days of life, newborns can distinguish only objects that are close by. The baby sees only blurry silhouettes and spots. After a month, a baby's eyes can distinguish surrounding objects in black and white.
By the age of three months, a baby already recognizes faces and can focus the gaze on objects and toys. At 6 months the ability to see color images appears. The visual acuity of a one-year-old is only 50%. Only by age 6 can children see like adults, although their visual apparatus continues to develop actively.
At this age a child starts school and begins to experience increased visual strain. At the same time, the eye muscles and nerves suffer from excessive tension. This can lead to accommodation spasm and other pathologies of the visual system.
The most common forms of reduced visual acuity are refractive anomalies. Refraction and accommodation are the mechanisms responsible for visual acuity. If one of the mechanisms fails, a vision disorder occurs.
It is important to distinguish between the concepts of a vision disorder and a disorder of visual function. The former is a general term for pathology of the eye and its adjacent anatomical structures. A disorder of visual functions is a specific pathology of one of the functions of the eye. The causes of the disease may be infectious or endocrine.
There are also other symptoms of vision disorders: dry eyes, no constriction of the pupil in response to light, and itching and burning in the eyes. For timely diagnosis of vision disorders, whose symptoms may appear singly or in combination, you should see a pediatric ophthalmologist promptly.
In the early years, vision problems can lead to delays in motor, speech and cognitive development. In school age, poor academic performance is among the consequences of vision disorders. Children with vision disorders have difficulty adapting to a new group. They are more prone to injuries. Also, without proper treatment the disease can worsen, leading to progressive vision loss.
The first examination of a baby by an ophthalmologist should be carried out in the first months of life. This makes it possible to recognize congenital eye diseases at an early stage and start therapy on time.
Stages of the initial examination of a child:
The main methods of examining the visual system:
If a vision disorder is found during a comprehensive examination, the pediatric ophthalmologist will prescribe treatment and physiotherapy procedures and prescribe glasses.
Ophthalmology is closely related to neurology. The overlap between the two fields of medicine is linked to the formation of the visual apparatus during the prenatal stage of the body's development. The health of the eyes can signal possible pathology of the central and peripheral nervous system. Therefore, if eye pain or headaches appear, it is worth booking the child for a consultation with a pediatric neurologist.
Childhood diseases of the visual system often respond well to treatment. With timely medical care, progression of the pathology can often be avoided and surgery prevented.
Modern methods of treating vision disorders:
In addition to the list above, CSM uses special methods to treat vision in children:
To get the most from correcting a vision disorder in children, the ophthalmologist selects glasses that the child should wear constantly.
Deterioration of a child's visual activity can be avoided with a set of preventive measures.
How to prevent vision disorders in children:
In addition to the measures above, exercises to prevent vision disorders should be done. They may help improve eye conditioning, strengthen the eye muscles, normalize the blood supply to the visual system, stabilize vision and relieve eye fatigue.
At home you can do eye relaxation exercises: blinking, closing and opening the eyes on a count. You can also train focusing the eyes on one object. Preventive and rehabilitation measures for children with vision disorders include hardware methods, physiotherapy procedures and specialized video trainers.
Eye pathologies are treated by a pediatric ophthalmologist. For some eye diseases, a pediatric neurologist is also involved in therapy. At CSM, experienced neurologists see patients. CSM is a full-cycle clinic. We offer solutions from diagnosis to treatment and recovery.
Our clinic has a large physiotherapy department and a hyperbaric oxygenation department. We use modern physiotherapy methods to treat vision disorders in children.