If you notice your child having trouble reading or sitting too close to the television, you should consider taking him or her to an eye doctor. These along with eye rubbing, squinting and lack of interest in school are often seen in children with refractive errors. Poor vision in one or both eyes during childhood can lead to the condition known as lazy eye that can cause long-term problems with your child’s vision. Here are some important things that you as parents should know about pediatric refractive errors and how they can be corrected:
Importance of healthy eyes for children
Healthy eyes and vision are extremely crucial for children. Good vision not only aids in reading, but is equally important for performance in co-curricular activities in school.
What are refractive errors?
A type of vision problem, refractive errors cause blurred vision in children as the shape of the eyes keep the light from focusing images on the retina. The most common type of refractive errors are:
- Farsightedness (hyperopia)
- Nearsightedness (myopia)
- Astigmatism
If these conditions are not corrected, they can have harmful consequences for your children.
Here we discuss in detail the common refractive errors:
Farsightedness or hyperopia
Children with hyperopia find it difficult to focus on objects close to them. However, they can clearly see faraway objects.
Symptoms:
- Trouble seeing objects up close
- Squinting the eyes a lot
Nearsightedness or myopia
Children with myopia cannot focus clearly on distant objects. Nearsightedness is the most common refractive error that is seen in children. Parents should know that young children may not be able to tell that they cannot see properly or may be they are unaware. It is therefore important for parents to observe children and take them to an eye doctor if they are sitting too close to the TV or holding books up close in the face.
Symptoms
- Rubbing eyes
- Sitting too close to the TV
- Excess watering of eyes
- Squinting
Causes
The length of the eyeball grows longer than usual.
- The cornea is too curved.
Astigmatism
Astigmatism causes blurred distance and near vision. In many cases, astigmatism begins in early childhood.
Symptoms
- Distorted vision
- Eye strain
- Difficulty with night vision
- Eye rubbing
- Trouble reading
Causes
- Astigmatism occurs when the cornea or the lens of the eyes have an irregular curve.
How to correct the refractive errors?
Treatment for refractive errors include
- Prescription eyeglasses
- Prescription contact lenses
- Refractive laser eye surgery
Looking for the best eye treatment in Kolkata for children?
Disha Eye Hospitals has a dedicated unit for Paediatric Ophthalmology and squint. Paediatric Ophthalmology deals with problems common to or seen in children. Our team of paediatric ophthalmologists offer the best care possible to children of all ages.
Some of the eye conditions that our paediatric ophthalmologists and strabismologist treat include:
- Paediatric strabismus
- Paediatric cataract
- Amblyopia
- Adult Strabismus
- Allergic disorders (red eye)
- Retinopathy of prematurity
- Paediatric glaucoma