Importance of Pediatric Eye Exam

The pediatric eye exam is done by an eye doctor (also known as optometrist or ophthalmologist). The eye exams should be performed for your child as soon they are of 6 months of age. Then the child should be examined at age 3 and after that at age 5 or 6 to detect any eye problems earlier.

Earlier detection ensures that your child will get eyeglasses or contact lenses in advance. This will protect further damage to the eyesight. Skilled optometrist in Toronto has advanced training and clinical tools to perform eye exams for children.

Importance of Pediatric Eye Exams

When the children are too young, they cannot express any eye-related problems to their parents. It’s better to take your child for annual eye check-ups as an eye doctor has special equipment to determine any issue that needs immediate attention.

An optometrist will provide required intervention and treatment in time to slow the worsening of vision and improve their quality of life.

Your child will benefit from eye exams in many ways:

• A clear vision will help your child to perform better at reading, writing, and completing their homework. They will excel in academic activities and achieve success.
• Sometimes, the problem with the eye child’s vision is often misinterpreted as having ADHD or ADD. Going for eye check-ups will prevent misdiagnoses of a problem and provide them with the right treatment.
• Eye exams will help to detect dangerous illnesses like cancer earlier before they turn fatal.
• Eye exams are important as children need accurate and comfortable eye teaming skills, eye movement skills, focusing skills, and visual acuity at all distances for optimum learning and performance.

If your child is facing vision problems, they will show these signs:

• They constantly rub their eyes.
• Have extreme sensitivity to light and finds difficult to focus.
• They find it difficult to visually track an object.
• The experience chronic redness and tearing of eyes.
• They have a white pupil instead of a black pupil.

Children having eye problems often show some symptoms at school:

• Those children find it difficult to read, and they have lower than expected reading comprehension.
• Such children have poor handwriting.
• They have frequent squinting.
• The children find it difficult to focus and often turn their heads from one to favor the right eye or turn to the other side to favor the left eye to focus better.
• They have a very short span of attention and often suffer from frequent headaches.
• These children often try to avoid reading anything and constantly lose their place while reading.
• They sit very close to the TV to have a better view.

What Are the Common Eye Problems?

Some of the common eye problems are:

Infantile Cataracts

It occurs in newborn babies in which the babies have the cloudiness of the eye lenses.

Congenital Glaucoma

It occurs due to incorrect or complete eye drainage canals before birth, and this condition can be inherited. It can be treated with medication and surgery.

The Genetic Disease of the Eye

This condition is usually inherited, and the child can develop retinoblastoma or cataracts. It is important to go for early eye check-ups for your child.

Amblyopia

Amblyopia is also known as a lazy eye and is a decreased vision in an eye that appears to be normal. It occurs due to crossed eyes and the difference in refractive error between the two eyes.

It cannot be treated with eyeglasses or contact lenses but requires eye patching to strengthen the weaker eye. However, if it is left untreated it can cause permanent visual loss in the affected eye.

Strabismus

It is the misalignment of the eyes. The eyes may turn in, out, up, or down and should be detected early to provide treatment on time. You can correct it by surgery or specially designed glasses.

Refractive Errors

The most common refractive errors are near-sightedness and far-sightedness. You can treat it with eyeglasses and contact lenses.

Astigmatism

It is the imperfect curvature of the front surface of the eye and can be treated with glasses. Early detection of eye problems can save your child’s vision and prevent any future complications.

If you see any of the signs of poor vision or any eye problems, contact a skilled optometrist near you immediately to get the right treatment.