Attention to Eye Problems in Children!

Ophthalmology Specialist Op. Dr. Nurcan Gürkaynak gave information about the subject. Eye ailments in children can appear as early as a few months old, or even congenitally. The problem can be solved with careful observations of families and subsequent physician treatment. Delay in treatment can lead to chronic problems. Eye diseases in childhood can also affect the future of the child. Vision problems affect 5-10 percent of preschool children and 20-30 percent of school-age children. Untreated eye problems can negatively affect learning ability, personality, school compliance, and can lead to worsening of the disease and other serious problems. The most common diseases in children include lazy eye, strabismus, lacrimal duct obstruction, hyperopia, astigmatism, and conjunctivitis.

LAZY EYE

Lazy eye is a condition in which the retina cannot learn to see due to the lack of clear images on the retina. It is usually caused by the difference in the number of glasses defect between the two eyes. Especially after the age of 7, it is very, very difficult to beat laziness. For this reason, it is very important to detect amblyopia at a very early age and to treat the problem that causes laziness. Laziness can be eliminated by applying special treatments.

SLIP EYES

Eye drift can be congenital or acquired. Early surgery is required in those who are congenital. In later cases, even just glasses are sometimes sufficient, provided that they start using them on time. However, in such cases, sometimes both surgery and glasses may be required. Slippages that cannot be corrected with glasses should be corrected surgically as soon as possible. Otherwise, lazy eye will develop.

CONJONCTIVITIS AND TEAR DUCT OBSTRUCTION

Conjunctivitis is very diverse, from microbial to allergic. They give symptoms such as watering, burrs, itching, stinging, redness. If not treated on time, it can become chronic and leave permanent stains in the pupil. In babies, the tear duct opens within a week at the latest. If there is continuous burrs in the eyes of the baby, the necessary treatment is given and it is waited for up to 6 months at the latest. If watering continues, it may be necessary to open the tear ducts with a simple intervention by giving a light anesthesia. Otherwise, serious, difficult-to-treat problems may occur in the eye after a long-lasting infection. Therefore, treatment should not be delayed.

Eye Disease Symptoms are as follows;

• droopy eyelid
• tearing eyes
• burring
• Swelling
• Don't look with one eye closed
• Reading very closely
• watching TV closely
• Cross eye
• squint your eyes
• Don't miss your reading
• Using a finger to pinpoint where it reads
• prolonged inability to read
• poor performance
• Headache
• Dizziness
• Nausea
• clumsy behavior
• Thoughtfulness
• Don't look with your head to one side
• Frequent itchy eyes
• Inability to focus eyes even though the baby is 3 months old
• If there is a serious eye disease in the family, it is necessary to consider that the child may have an eye disease.

Regular checking is important. Observations of the family in the preschool period, and apart from the family at school age, teachers and educators should also monitor the children, take notes about them if necessary, pay attention to abnormal behaviors, and warn the family when they see or feel a problem and help the child to have an eye examination. Since many eye problems start at an early age, children's eyes should be checked at certain times. Even if the child does not have a problem, in the pre-school age at the 6th month, at the age of 3 and 5 years and before starting school; It is appropriate to have an eye examination every 2 years during school. If there are any problems, of course, these periods should not be expected.

WHAT ARE THE EYE EXAMINATION METHODS?

During the eye examination of the child, various examination instruments such as light pens, biomicroscope, computerized refractometer are used. If necessary, the examination is performed under general anesthesia. 3-4 year olds can express many things now. After this age, the eyesight of children can often be determined quite well. Families often think that only visual acuity, that is, being able to read small objects and letters, is a measure of eye health. In fact, during the eye examination, not only visual acuity, but also many other subjects are investigated. It may be necessary to perform an examination by enlarging the pupil with eye drops in order to accurately detect the eye disorder in children who cannot testify and have shifted eyes. In this way, it is possible to examine the back of the eye in detail.