Children’s Vision Problems

Early detection is essential

It’s important to detect children’s vision problems early on to make sure your children have good vision to do the things that they love. Children still have developing eyes but can be affected my numerous eye conditions or diseases.

From the human’s five senses, vision is definitely the most important one. It plays an essential role during your childhood and beyond. 80 percent of what they teach and present in school is visually. During the first several months of life, a baby can focus only on objects up close. Those objects will be seen in high contrast colors only, such as black, white and red.

But by 6 months of age, your child’s visual acuity should be much sharper, with more accurate color vision and better eye movement and hand-eye coordination skills.

To make sure your child’s eyes are functioning properly and working together as a team during the early formative years, schedule his or her first eye exam with an optometrist or ophthalmologist at 6 months of age. Otherwise, a lifetime of poor vision in one or both eyes could occur.

Here is a list of some of the common children’s vision problems:

1- Nearsightedness (Myopia): A child with nearsightedness clearly sees nearby objects but has difficulty focusing on objects that are far away.

2- Farsightedness (Hyperopia): A child with farsightedness has difficulty focusing on objects that are nearby. Excessive farsightedness can lead to strabismus.

3- Astigmatism: Astigmatism is a vision problem that causes objects at all distances to appear distorted and blurry.

4- Lazy eyes (Amblyopia): Amblyopia is a vision problem in which one eye is usually weaker than the other. Unfortunately, amblyopia is not always correctable with eye glasses or contact lenses and may require eye patching to strengthen the weaker eye.

5- Strabismus: Eyes that cross or are not lined up with each other. Strabismus can have different causes, such as excessive farsightedness or problems with muscle control in the affected eye or eyes. The doctor may patch the stronger eye to strengthen he weaker one, or prescribe special glasses or eye exercises.

6- Glaucoma: A group of diseases can threaten vision by damaging the eye’s main nerve, caused by a build-up of fluid that increases pressure inside the eye. Sometimes children are born with glaucoma, others develop it at a young age.

7- Cataract: A clouding of the eye’s lens that can be caused by diabetes or by trauma to the eye. Some children are born with cataracts.

8- Retinoblastoma: It is a rare form of cancer that rapidly develops from the immature cells of a retina, the light-detecting tissue of the eye. It is the most common primary malignant intraocular cancer in children, and it is almost exclusively found in young children.