How can we detect lazy eye in children

Lazy eye or amblyopia is a pathology that affects 3-4% of children and must be corrected during childhood, because if it is not detected in time or the treatment is not adequate, it will be very difficult to solve it in the future. This pathology is the most frequent cause of vision loss in children.

Lazy eye or amblyopia is the decrease in the visual acuity of one or both eyes without an alteration of the ocular structure. This visual defect occurs when the child uses less of one of the two eyes during the period of visual development before the age of 8 years. This is where the importance of detecting and treating it at an early age lies. Otherwise, the lazy eye can continue into adulthood, which can incapacitate the patient during the exercise of various professions or in extreme cases, losing the vision of the eye.

What are the symptoms of lazy eye in children?

It is important to have regular check-ups to detect lazy eye, as well as to be aware of the symptoms that the child may present. Some of these are:

  • The child may twist one or both eyes from 3 months of age, even on specific occasions.
  • Turning the head away to stare
  • Closing one eye to focus
  • Constant blinking
  • Tilting the head to perform eye strain tasks
  • Suffering from headaches
  • Frequent blinking and rubbing of the eyes
  • Getting too close to books while reading and drawing
  • Complaining of itching and redness of the eyes.
Read Now 👉  The music of the heart, stories in favor of Cardiovascular Risk Prevention

Why does lazy eye occur?

  • Strabismus
  • Refractive problems such as nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism.
  • Diseases such as congenital cataracts, eyelid drooping…

Treatment of lazy eye

Routine pediatrician and pediatric ophthalmologic checkups before the age of 3 are important to detect lazy eye (there are some cases in which children are completely asymptomatic). The earlier it is diagnosed, before the age of 6 or 7, the better the chances of vision recovery. From the age of 3, the child can already talk to the ophthalmologist for a complete check-up, so it will help to diagnose a lazy eye with a more effective treatment than at an older age. Treatment of lazy eye will depend on the cause, some treatments include:

  • Use of occlusive patches that will force the lazy eye to work.
  • Use of atropine eye drops that dilate the pupil with the same purpose as the patch, to get the lazy eye to work.
  • The use of spectacles with penalizing filters on the lenses