Common Eye Diseases in Children

Wed Jul 05 2017

Since infancy to early childhood, children are prone to various eye diseases. In numerous cases, children are born with an eye problem. Nevertheless, there are many eye diseases which develop in children with growing age. Eye diseases  can be extremely detrimental to the child’s overall development. Here is a list of the most common eye diseases in children. 1)      Nystagmus It is a pediatric eye problem in which the eye conducts consistent involuntary movements. As a result of it, the child suffers  reduced vision. The eye movements can be changeful. The movement can occur as an upward or a sideways to-and-fro movement of the eyeball. Due to the movements, the ability of the eyes to steadily recognize an object reduces. As a natural effort to deal with the problem, the child begins to adapt abnormal  head positions.. The aim is to ascertain the position of the eye – restricting it to look to a single side. The position is called the Null Point. It helps in vision improvisation because it is the point where Nystagmus is least evident. Management includes trial of glasses, contact lenses, prisms and surgery in selected cases. 2)      Amblyopia Amblyopia is also known as the Lazy Eye Problem. It is a common eye problem diagnosed in children. It is a condition in which, a child is unable to establish standard eyesight. The problem can occur to one or both the eyes. In other words, those children who do not possess a full  vision since birth and are unable to develop it over the years of childhood until the age of 9, suffer Amblyopia and their affected eye(s) are called Amblyopic. The major causes of Amblyopia are – Misalignment of the eyes, and a significant dissimilarity in the quality of the vision of both the eyes. Nonetheless, timely diagnosis and treatment of Amblyopia are required to ensure the child healthy eyesight. An early diagnosis, mainly during infancy, allows the prevention of permanent loss of eyesight. 3)      Conjunctivitis It is the most common eye problem noticed in children. Conjunctivitis refers to the condition of inflammation and irritation of the conjunctiva. Conjunctiva is the white coloured mucous membrane present in the eye.  This problem is popularly known as Pink Eye. The consequences of conjunctivitis can range from watery eyes with mild inflammation to grievous eye infections. The general causes of conjunctivitis include viral infection, bacterial eye infection, allergic reactions, irritation because of chemical exposure, etc. 4)      Blocking of Tear Ducts It is a pediatric eye problem. Blocking of tear ducts refers to a situation of partially or entirely obstructed tear ducts of the eye. Due to blockage of the tear ducts, the tears do not drain ordinarily. Thus, it leads to eye irritation, watery eye, and chronic infections of the eye. The first symptom of the problem is an unceasing flow of tears from the eye. This eye problem may prevail since the birth of the child. However, it naturally gets resolved within a year of the birth. Nevertheless, in many cases, doctors recommend the parents to practice some massage techniques. These demonstrated massage routines help the membrane covering to agape. 5)      Accommodative Esotropia Accommodative Esotropia is also a case of Strabismus. It is a situation of misalignment or crossing of eyes, developed due to farsightedness. The problem can develop in a child in between 4 months of birth to an age of 6 years. Usually, the diagnosis of the cases of Accommodative Esotropia occurs in a child of the age of 2 years to 3 years. Use of hyperopic glasses or contact lenses is prescribed to correct the problem. The use of prescribed glasses improves the vision. Therefore, the child does not need to adjust his eyes to a misaligned position. Thus, it prevents the reflex crossing of the eyes. Nonetheless, it is just a temporary prescription for the problem. The misalignment of eyes reappears as soon as the child removes the lenses. In other critical situations, the corrective lenses only help to prevent misalignment of the eyes while focusing on a faraway object. In such cases, the crossing of eyes may occur while focusing on nearby objects even with the use of a prescription. In this case, doctors recommend the use of Bifocal lens to allow the child a standard vision.  It helps to prevent the crossing of the eye while focusing at all distances.

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