How Well Can Your Child See?

One of your child’s mot valuable assets is sight. It is important for you to ensure that he has good vision and that he does not suffer from any other eye defects. The assessment of your child’s eye sight must be done at an early age and you do not have to wait till your child starts school. A child of preschool age may not be seeing properly or may be having a squint. Short sightedness if unrecognized, may seriously hamper a child’s learning and his learning difficulties may be mistaken as mental sub normality. The eye testing of a child should be carried out regularly from nursery to school leaving age.

When to Consult a Doctor?
1. If you suspect that your child is having in difficulty in seeing well. You may notice that your child turns or tilts his head, screws up his eyes or holds the book close to his face in order to see more clearly. A child at school may be having trouble reading the blackboard. He should also have his eyes checked if the complain of headache or tiredness of eyes after reading for some time.

2. If you notice that the child has a squint.

3. If the eyes shows redness or there is a pus discharge or persistent itching.

Vision Problems

Short Sight (Myopia)
In children with short sight the near objects are clearly visible but the distant objects appear blurred. If your child holds the book close or if he always wants to sit very close to the TV screen, as he may be short sighted. At school a child with short sight is unable to see what is written on the blackboard, which may be the first sign of the child’s visual difficulty.

Long Sight
Long sight is also known as hypermetropia. A child with this problem can see distant objects well bout has difficulty in seeing near objects. It has, generally a better outlook in the long run as compared to short sight.

The basic problem is children with short right and long sight is that the image of the objects seen by them does not get focused properly on the retina. It falls either in front or behind the retina. The retina functions like a comera serene and the image sensed and formed by it is transmitted by the optic nerve to the brain for final viewing by the child. Since the image in there cases is out of focus, objects appear blurred to the child.

To correct the afore said deficiency, appropriate type of lenses are prescribed for use in spectacles or as contact lenses. The lenses project the images properly on the retina and thereby correct the child’s eyesight. The lenses may need changes as the child (and his eyes) grows. Regular check-ups with as ophthalmologist is recommended.

Squint
If a child shows evidence of squint after 6 months of age, he must be shown to an eye specialist. Squint is one of the common forms of eye defects in children. In this condition the two eyes are not functioning well together as a unit. This condition must be corrected at an early stage, as otherwise the vision in the squinting eye is liable to become worse and its subsequent correction may not be possible.