Pediatric Eye Health

Instilling healthy eye care practices early on can help children achieve clear eyesight and maintain lifelong eye health. Regular eye check-ups, proper eye care practices, and early detection of vision issues are vital to ensuring optimal eye health in young individuals.

Eye Exams For Children

Children should have their first eye exam at 6 months old. If a parent suspects something is wrong, an ophthalmologist can check it even earlier.

Early eye exams are important because children need the following basic visual skills for learning:

• Near vision
• Distance vision: Tumbling E chart, Landolt C chart
• Eye teaming (binocularity)
• Eye movement
• Accommodation (focusing skills)
• Peripheral vision
• Eye–hand coordination

Eye Problems in Children

Children experience a variety of eye problems, many quite distinct from adult eye diseases. Pediatric ophthalmologists are specially trained to manage the following disorders:

• Infections (Conjunctivitis)
• Strabismus, a misalignment of the eyes that affects 2-4% of the population; it is often associated with amblyopia. The inward turning gaze commonly referred to as “crossed-eyes” is an example of strabismus.
• Amblyopia (aka lazy eye) occurs when the vision of one eye is significantly better than the other eye, and the brain begins to rely on the better eye and ignore the weaker one.  The management of amblyopia involves correcting of significant refractive errors and using techniques that encourage the brain to pay attention to the weaker eye such as patching the stronger eye(occlusion therapy).
• Blocked tear ducts
• Ptosis, is a drooping or falling of the upper eyelid.
• Retinopathy of prematurity
• Nystagmus, is a condition of involuntary eye movement, acquired in infancy or later in life, that may result in reduced or limited vision.
• Visual inattention
• Pediatric cataracts, is a clouding of the lens in the eye leading to a decrease in vision.
• Pediatric glaucoma, develops due to ocular hypertension and is evident either at birth or within the first few years of life.
• Abnormal vision development
• Genetic disorders often cause eye problems for affected children. Since approximately 30% of genetic syndromes affect the eyes, examination by a pediatric ophthalmologist can help with the diagnosis of genetic conditions.
• Congenital malformations affecting vision or the tear drainage duct system can be evaluated and possibly surgically corrected by a pediatric ophthalmologist.
• Orbital tumours
• Refractive errors such as myopia (near-sightedness), hyperopia (far-sightedness) and astigmatism can often be corrected with prescriptions for glasses or contacts.
• Accommodative insufficiency involves the inability of the eye to focus properly on an object.
• Convergence insufficiency and asthenopia, characterized by a reduced ability of the eyes to turn towards each other, or sustain convergence.
• Evaluation of visual issues in education, including dyslexia and attention deficit disorder.

Vision Abnormalities In Infants

Vision problems in infants are both common and easily treatable if addressed early by an ophthalmologist.

CRITICAL WARNING SIGNS:

• Excessive tearing
• Red or encrusted eyelids
• White pupils
• Extreme sensitivity to bright light
• Constant eye turning