Squint and Paediatric Ophthalmology
-Brightening Young Eyes, Ensuring a Clear Future-
Squint and Paediatric Ophthalmology at
Nethra Foundations
Pediatric ophthalmologists treat all eye problems in children under the age of 15 years. As strabismus is one of the common problems in children, pediatric ophthalmologists are trained to treat strabismus in children and adults. A child should not be regarded as a small adult. Children have unique needs and concerns. An incorrect treatment decision or a delayed treatment could result in a permanent impairment of vision. Squint is the condition when both eyes do not look together at one direction and concentrate on one point when we look at something. Squints mostly affect young children. Our eyeball is held by six muscles. When we try to rotate our eyes and look on another direction, all these muscles adjust accordingly. A condition when these muscles do not function in a balanced way and do not move together, we call it Squint.
Symptoms/ Signs of watch out for
- Crossed eyes which do not align with each other when looking at things
- Difficult eye movements
- Poor performance in the classroom
- Shaky movements of eyes
- Child trying to bring things closer to eyes
- Watching TV from very close distance
- Noticeable White spot in eye
Question & Answer
Myopia or nearsightedness
Myopia or Nearsightedness is the most common refractive error among children. It occurs when the eye is longer for the focusing system to work properly. In myopia the distance objects appear blurred
Hyperopia or Farsightedness
Hyperopia or Farsightedness occurs when the eye is shorter, needing the focusing system to overwork to bring the image focused on the retina. Hyperopic children have problems both for near and distance.
Astigmatism
Astigmatism occurs when the power on cornea is not regular. Children with refractive errors can have frequent headache, blurred vision, eye strain and fatigue. These errors can be corrected with glasses. Contact lenses can be tried in early teens.
Strabismus or “Squint”
Strabismus or “Squint” is caused by the failure of the eye muscles to work together causing the eyes to be misaligned. In a child who has squint, one or both eyes may turn in, out, up or down. The brain corrects resulting double vision by using the better eye to see, and suppressing the squinting eye. This needs to be corrected at the earliest, as delay in treatment can cause permanent visual impairment. Treatment could be glasses, patching, home eye exercises or work ups on VTS4 system. In few children this needs to be followed up by a surgery to straighten the eyes. Surgery is ideally advised around the age of 4 yrs. and it may be on one or both eyes. It is a very safe extra ocular procedure performed under general Anesthesia and at dr. Sreekanth eye care & research centre it is always done under Operating Microscope.
Amblyopia or “lazy eye”
Amblyopia or “lazy eye” is a condition where the eye is structurally normal but vision is reduced, due to inadequate visual stimulus in childhood. Uncorrected squint, asymmetrical uncorrected refractive errors, cataract etc. can lead to amblyopia. With early detection, the lazy eye can be corrected.
Eye Injuries
Eye injuries in children can cause eye damage which can be prevented by: Supervising children while using sharper objects. Keeping your child away from hazardous objects, medicines, chemicals, cleaning agents and sprays. Giving your child protective eye wear during sports, recreation and lab activities.