Pediatric Eye Care

Children should have their eyes tested before their third birthday to help ensure good eye health. Besides farsightedness, nearsightedness and astigmatism, children also need to be screened for strabismus and amblyopia.

Strabismus is the misalignment of the eyes. One eye looks straight ahead, while the other eye looks inward, to the side, up or down.

• It's most easily treated during childhood. In fact, the earlier the treatment, the better the result.
• The misaligned eye may be straight at times. The onset of crossing could be at 1-2 years of age or be present at birth.
• Treatment includes:
  • Eyeglasses
  • Patching the straight eye in order to strengthen the weak or lazy eye
  • Surgery to realign or adjust the tension of the eye muscles

Babies sometimes appear to have strabismus but outgrow it. True strabismus needs treatment and cannot be outgrown. All infants that have crossing or poor eye coordination should be examined in their first year of life.

If your child's eyes appear misaligned, the child has problems with depth perception and squints one eye in bright light, an exam and treatment now could prevent a lifetime of vision trouble.

Amblyopia, often called "lazy eye" can be caused by droopy eyelids, congenital cataract, imbalance of refractive error and poor eye alignment. The brain doesn't develop the ability to see a sharp image in the weak eye.

• Patching the stronger eye to strengthen the weaker eye often proves effective, if started when the person is young.
• It can be permanent if not treated until late childhood or adulthood.
• Symptoms include little or no depth perception, poor vision and squinting one eye in bright light. If you notice these symptoms, please call Bagan Strinden Vision for an exam.
• Blurred vision, pain and light sensitivity describe several larger issues and need to be investigated by an eye doctor. Call our office for an appointment.