August is Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month! It’s also just about time for school to start up again, so now is a great time to pay special attention to your children’s vision.
Children are more susceptible to a number of vision and eye issues. Injury, infection, and nearsightedness are common problems that arise in childhood. Vision problems affect 1 in 20 preschoolers. You can help minimize the damage and discomfort by getting them in for yearly eye exams!
Children's eyes change and develop quickly, which is why it is important to catch any potential problems fast. This can help prevent further damage to your child's vision as their eyes grow. Still, it isn’t always apparent that they are dealing with vision issues.
Some general warning signs of vision problems to watch out for in school-age children are:
quickly losing interest in activities that require eye use
losing their place when reading
turning/tilting their head to the side in order to look at something directly in front of them
crossed eyes
more sensitivity to light than usual
rubbing their eyes frequently
headaches
If you notice any of these symptoms, it’s time to get your child’s eyes examined.
Common Childhood Vision Problems
Two of the most common vision problems that children develop are amblyopia and strabismus.
Amblyopia
Amblyopia, more commonly known as lazy eye, is the most common reason kids lose their vision. It occurs in early childhood when the vision in one eye becomes progressively weaker than the other. The brain starts relying more on the stronger eye, while vision in the weaker eye continues to get worse.
5% of children younger than 15 are affected by amblyopia. The signs aren’t always immediately apparent, but here’s what you can look out for:
Squinting
Bumping into objects (especially on one side of their body)
Shutting one eye
Tilting their head
Crossed eyes.
Often, amblyopia isn't caught until the child has an eye exam. All kids are recommended to get a vision screening at least once between ages 3 and 5. Regular screenings during childhood are especially important for this condition, as untreated amblyopia can lead to permanent vision damage. The condition cannot be prevented, but further damage can.
Once the condition is diagnosed, the following treatment methods are available: wearing an eye patch, eyeglasses, and medicated eye drops. In rare cases, surgery may be needed. Treatment usually lasts a few months. Be sure to encourage your child to keep up with their treatment routine to avoid prolonging the duration of it!
Strabismus
Strabismus, also known as crossed or misaligned eyes, occurs when one eye is turned in a different direction than the other. Strabismus develops due to an issue in the muscles that control eye movement.
There are four different types of strabismus, based on the way the turned eye is oriented. Esotropic strabismus is when one eye turns inward, while exotropic is when one turns outward. Hypertropic is when one eye turns upward, and hypotropic is when one eye turns downward.
Symptoms of strabismus include:
eyes that look misaligned.
eyes that do not move together.
frequent blinking or squinting, especially in bright sunlight.
tilting the head to look at things.
faulty depth perception
double vision
Strabismus usually presents in infancy and early childhood, with most cases developing by the age of 3. It can also develop in older children and even adults. Many assume their children will simply grow out of strabismus - but this is untrue! In fact, the alignment may grow worse without treatment. Strabismus can be diagnosed through a comprehensive eye exam. Then, treatment options can be discussed.
Currently, strabismus can be treated with the following options: eyeglasses or contact lenses, prism lenses (which are thicker on one side than the other, working to eliminate eye turning), vision therapy, and eye muscle surgery if none of the other methods work to correct the alignment.
There are no methods at the moment for preventing strabismus - however, complications and further worsening of the condition can be prevented if it is caught early enough. As always, be sure to get your child's vision screening completed early and routinely.
It often takes time for parents to notice when their child is having vision problems. The longer that it takes, the more learning that is interrupted. Set your child up for a great school year with minimal distractions by getting them in for an eye exam!
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