Frequently Asked Questions about PEDIATRIC OPHTHALMOLOGY

Even if no visual abnormality is noticed in the child, experts advise that the first pediatric ophthalmological check-up should be carried out at the age of three. From this age, and under normal circumstances, this comprehensive examination should be repeated annually.

It should be taken into account that, during the first years of life, the visual system in children develops until it completes its maturation at 7-8 years of age. For this reason, it is vitally important to ensure proper visual development in this period, in order to detect early any visual anomaly that could worsen over time, and even be irreversible.

Schedule of ophthalmological check-ups

Children can also present this pathology at birth, although it is more common from the age of 50-60. Depending on the degree of opacity of your lens, it can seriously hinder or compromise your vision.

Hence the importance of subjecting the child to a first ophthalmological examination after birth in order to rule it out, as well as other congenital vision anomalies.

Conjunctivitis is an inflammation of the conjunctiva, a clear membrane that covers the white part of the eye (sclera), which can occur in adults and children.

The causes of its appearance can be a bacterial or viral infection (infectious conjunctivitis), an allergic reaction due to exposure to an allergen that induces hypersensitivity in some people (allergic conjunctivitis) or, also, it can occur as a result of contact with irritating substances in the environment (irritative conjunctivitis).

Color blindness is detected through different visual tests. The test most often used to diagnose it is known as Ishihara Letters.

It is a series of cards where circles appear with multiple colored dots, in which there is an inserted number that must be identified. People who have normal vision can differentiate numbers easily, while those who suffer or may suffer from color blindness have difficulties to varying degrees.

This is one of the most frequently asked questions about pediatric ophthalmology. In these cases, it is advisable to carry out an adequate control of this refractive error with the ophthalmologist to obtain the accurate diagnosis and establish a correct assessment of their visual capacity in order to correct it early.

There are different methods, although optical correction using glasses is recommended as the first choice. It should be borne in mind that the prescription in children will inevitably undergo changes during their development, so it is advisable that the prescription of their eyesight reaches a certain level of stabilization to assess other alternatives such as surgery.

When it is an accommodative strabismus, that is, in which there is a previous refractive error (myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism), it is advisable to treat it with optical correction (glasses or contact lenses). Strabismus usually disappears once the refractive error has been corrected.

However, in this case, if the ocular deviation persists, the ophthalmologist will assess the need to resort to surgical treatment to correct this loss of parallelism between the two eyes.

Childhood strabismus surgery consists of modifying the length or position of the muscles of the ocular system, which are responsible for moving the eyeball, strengthening or weakening those responsible for the deviation of the eye. Given the young age of the patient, this procedure is performed under general anesthesia and on an outpatient basis.

This birth disease causes progressive damage to the optic nerve, which is responsible for transmitting information from the eye to the brain. As a result of this damage, a milder or more severe loss of vision occurs, depending on its degree of degeneration.

As the disease progresses, the normal appearance of the eyes changes when there is a loss of transparency of the cornea and a disproportionate increase in the size of the eye due to distension in the tissues.

To confirm the diagnosis, the ophthalmologist will need to give the affected child an in-depth examination.

Some of the symptoms of children who suffer from lazy eye that should alert parents and educators are head twisting, constant blinking, eye winking, blurred vision, double vision, approaching objects, eye redness, among others.

It is advisable to detect and treat this childhood pathology at the right time (before the age of 7-8) to obtain a better prognosis for visual recovery since, if this problem is not detected in time, it may last into adulthood without there being any possibility of correcting the vision of the eye that is not used.

Infantile eyelid ptosis is the drooping of the upper eyelid that partially or completely covers the child’s eye and, if it occurs, it is usually before the age of 8. This alteration of their normal position can affect the visual field, seriously interfering with their vision.

This type of eyelid malposition in children occurs from birth, because it is usually of congenital origin and is usually related to poor development of the muscle that is responsible for raising the eyelid.

Young children (ages 3 to 6) are unlikely to recognize for themselves that they have difficulty with their vision. Therefore, it is essential to pay attention to certain behaviors that they manifest repeatedly, such as:

• Absence of fixation and monitoring of light (from 3 months).
• Squint your eyes to focus better at a distance.
• Extreme sensitivity to light (photophobia).
• Deviation or tremors of the eyes.
• Redness of the eyes.
• Rubbing your eyes often.
• Moving closer or further away from the TV or paper when reading or writing.
• Difficulty reading the blackboard.
• Confusing letters or words.
• Poor reading comprehension.
• Headaches with some frequency.