Pediatric Eye Care
Author: Marlane J. Brown, O.D.
Eye care for children is much different from that of an adult and even drastically different than that of a senior adult. A child's ability to see develops rapidly in the first months and years of life. You can notice very early that babies will use their eyes to locate people and objects. If you detect any bizarre visual circumstances we encourage an immediate eye examination. If no distinct abnormality is detected it is suggested that all children have their vision checked within the first three to four years of their life.
As a parent you may see signs of developmental delay or your family might have some history of crossed eyes, or pediatric cataracts. In these cases do not hesitate to get you child’s vision checked out by an eye care professional. Our optometric staff can give regular eye exams to children. If surgery is required we will suggest an appropriate and trained pediatric ophthalmologist.
A common childhood vision problem
Amblyopia
Amblyopia, or decreased vision, is a problem that is ideally corrected while children are young. It is sometimes called “lazy eye.” When one eye develops good vision while the other does not, the eye with poorer vision is called amblyopic. Usually only one eye is affected, but it is possible for both eyes to be “lazy eyes.” Recently, many reports in the medical literature have increased our understanding of how best to successfully treat these children.Strabismus is often called misaligned eyes
Strabismus is a condition in which each eye appears to look in a different direction. It is commonly termed ‘lazy eyes’, misaligned eyes’, ‘wandering eyes’, or ‘crossed eyes’. One eye may look straight ahead and the other eye turns inward, outward or downward. Pediatric ophthalmologists will examines and treat strabismus in both children and adults.
Strabismus is a common condition among children occurring equally in males and females. About 4% of all children in the US have strabismus. It may run in families, but many people with strabismus have no relative with the same problem. The exact cause of strabismus is not fully known. Six eye muscles control eye movements and are attached to the outside of each eye. In each eye, particular muscles move the eye to the left, right, up, down and at angles. To align both eyes properly, all the muscles in each eye must be balanced and working together. In order for the eyes to move properly together, the muscles in both eyes must be coordinated.
The brain controls these muscles; therefore, strabismus is more common among children with certain disorders that affect the brain. A child born prematurely, or with other disabilities like cerebral palsy, may be more at risk. Most children with strabismus do not have other problems, but most doctors will throroughly evaluate each child's particular issues.
Many adults also have strabismus. Some simply never had the condition treated as a child, while in others the condition may have worsened into adulthood. Some adults have had strabismus surgery as a child, but the eyes began to drift again years later. Sadly, many people think that strabismus cannot be treated as an adult, but that is absolutely false. Amazingly, they may have been told that the misalignment is only cosmetic and will not be paid for by insurance carriers. That too, is simply not true. Eye muscle surgery is almost always covered by medical insurance, and has nothing to do with a ‘vision plan.’ Eye muscle surgery is not painful and does not require a lot of time away from work. Most patients have minimal discomfort, and are back to work in a couple of days.
Retinopathy of Prematurity
Thanks to the incredible, rapid technological advances in neonatal care, ever-growing numbers of the smallest premature infants survive the critical first weeks of life. As more of these babies survive, so has the incidence of a vision-threatening eye disease called retinopathy of prematurity or ROP.
This disease usually develops in these infants a few weeks after birth. ROP affects very low birth weight premature babies, usually less than 1,500 grams (around 3 lbs) since they are born prior to the complete development of the retina. The immature retinal blood vessels may grow abnormally during the first months. If the abnormal blood vessel growth becomes severe and is not treated, it may eventually result in retinal detachment and total blindness.
