Squint, also called as Strabismus, can occur at any age, but is particularly common in young children. Squint can be temporary i.e. it may come and go, or persist (be permanent). These 5 insights can help you confirm the occurrence of squint in your child, choose proper treatment, and lower the risks of further complications:
1. Ensuring annual eye check-up of your child:
As a concerned parent, your first responsibility is to ensure that you take your child to the eye doctor every year for a comprehensive eye checkup. Doing this will help you identify the early symptoms of squint as well as other eye complications common in young children.
You can bring your child to our eye specialists at Disha Eye Hospital, one of the leading eye hospitals in West Bengal, for a complete eye exam. Our team of eye doctors uses the latest technologies and equipment for ensuring precise diagnosis.
2. Tips to identify whether your child has squint:
Identifying squint in your child is relatively easy. The first step is to take a closer look at your child’s eye; if the eye balls are deviated from each other at all times or when trying to focus on an object, it could indicate the presence of the eye condition.
Another sign to watch out for is whether your child is tilting his/her head to one side when doing everyday tasks or not. As squint can cause double vision, your child might try to close his/her eyes to correct vision.
3. Causes of squint in children:
There are several causes of squint. In children, the eye condition can be the result of the eye attempting to correct vision problems (refractive errors) such as far sightedness (hyperopia), near sightedness (myopia), and astigmatism (uneven curvature of the front part of the eyes).
In some cases, squint in childhood can be a symptom of retinoblastoma, a rare type of childhood eye cancer. Other rare causes of squint in children include developmental delays, genetic syndromes or conditions, and certain infections.
4. Complications of squint:
One of the biggest myths about squint in childhood is that children can grow out of the eye condition. This conventional belief is discarded by eye doctors and parents. Make sure not to believe in such myths and instead start early treatment upon diagnosis of the eye condition.
Failing to address the eye condition with proper treatment can increase the risks of lazy eye. Lazy eye is when the brain stops accepting signals coming from the affected eye. Other complications of squint in younger children include double vision, vision impairment, and low self-esteem.
5. When to get medical advice?
This is one of the common questions concerning parents. It’s crucial to seek medical attention if your child is only three months or older and has a temporary squint. Also, seek immediate medical advice if you notice changes (even the most subtle ones) in the eye alignment and vision of your child. To identify vision changes, watch whether your child sits near to the screen while watching TV or brings books closer to the eyes while reading/studying.
For proper diagnosis and treatment of squint, consult with our eye care experts
From ensuring precise diagnosis to planning and choosing the right treatment option(s) such as patching of the healthy (unaffected) eye to force the use of the weak (affected) eye, our eye care specialists can help you effectively correct your child’s squint. Learn more about our paediatric squint treatment in Kolkata at http://www.dishaeye.org/content/paediatric-squint.