How To Tell If Your Child Has Eye Problems

The most common eye problems in childhood, such as strabismus or nearsightedness, are relatively easy for adults to detect. However, there are other asymptomatic pathologies that may go unnoticed, such as amblyopia or vacant eye, whose timely diagnosis and treatment are essential to avoid the worsening of such pathologies.

To learn to notice if your child has eye problems, it is important to pay attention to warning signs and a series of symptoms that may indicate the presence of an eye pathology or disorder.

For example, if the child does not properly identify people at a long distance, if distant things do not catch his attention, if objects are placed too close to the face, or if one of the eyes looks averted, especially in tired or weak states, he may there is a visual problem.

It is also important to pay attention to symptoms such as fever, drowsiness, or if the child rubs their eyes repeatedly, or has any difficulty keeping their eyes open while reading, writing, or drawing.

Another sign of eye problems is when she tilts her head back to see better, when she has a whitish spot in the pupil area, when she complains of headache or blurred vision, when sunlight is too bothersome or she adapts poorly to darkness.

All of the above are obvious symptoms of children who have eye problems. Seeing two of all these symptoms in your baby is reason enough to make the decision to see a specialist.

Learn to pay attention to your baby’s eye development

To get a clearer idea of ​​a child’s normal visual behavior during the first months of life and compare it to your child, know that in the first 6 weeks the baby already reacts to facial expressions.

At three months, the baby is already aware of the movement and is able to follow a shiny object with his eyes. From 3 to 6 months, he looks at his hand and is able to follow the activities of the environment around him, in addition, he smiles at his own image reflected in the mirror.

At 6 months, the baby is already able to follow small objects with his eyes and reach out to them. At 7 months of age, he touches his image in the mirror. A 9-month-old child moves to see an object. At 12 months, he looks for toys and objects that disappear from his field of vision.

With this short behavior guide focused on a child’s first 12 months of life, you will be able to compare whether your child reacts favorably to different stimuli, focusing on what is described and comparing according to your child’s age.

Eye problems are very common

There are often problems that go unnoticed or are not associated with visual pathologies. To prevent them from becoming chronic and irreversible visual impairments in the future, it is important to carry out a complete eye examination of the child from 4 years of age onwards.

This evaluation should not take place after 8 years of age, especially if there is a family history of an eye disorder.

According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the most common problems that affect vision, such as nearsightedness or farsightedness, affect more than 20% of school-age children. This percentage means that one in four children suffers from a visual problem.

Reasons like this are enough for children to have pediatric supervision in relation to their vision and to be examined by a specialist in ophthalmology at the age of three, which helps to identify possible visual problems that can impair their academic development, among others areas.

If your child has a headache when leaving school or after reading for more than half an hour, if their eyes get irritated while doing homework, or if they frown when reading, they probably have a vision problem. .

The main refractive problems in children are nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. Others, such as strabismus, which is characterized by cross-eyed eyes, amblyopia, known as vacant or lazy eye, and ptosis, which causes the upper eyelids to droop, have a lower incidence among young students.

Early detection of possible vision problems in your child is important for future correction. So, if you think your child doesn’t see properly or you notice deficiencies, see a specialist as soon as possible.

Watch out for any of the signs described above, because by noticing them, you can save yourself trouble now and in the future. Ophthalmology specialists recommend that a child’s vision be assessed regularly. In principle, it is the pediatrician who makes the initial checks before referring them to a specialist.

On the other hand, don’t forget that your child’s number one specialist is you, so pay attention to the symptoms so you can treat them in time and successfully.