There are a variety of eye problems that can befall a child at each stage of growth. Abnormalities of the eye at the age under one year generally are innate / congenital. The following conditions on eye children health issues:
- Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a condition where the retina has not been perfect and the only part of development that overwhelmed so easily damaged blood vessels and detached, causing blindness. This condition is more common in babies born prematurely.
- Congenital glaucoma is congenital condition where the eye drainage channel is not formed correctly before birth.
- Conjunctivitis gonorrhea infection in infants born vaginally to mothers exposed to gonorrhea.
- Infantile cataract is cloudiness in the eyes of newborns.
- Abnormalities of refraction so that the lens of the eye does not refract or reflect light properly, so images appear blurred. Nearsightedness, farsightedness and Astigmatism / cylindrical refractive error is the most common.
- Strabismus (crossed eyes) is a visual defect in which the two eyes point leads to a different focus. One eye can lead to the right, left, upward, or downward, while the other eye fixed on the other. Strabismus causes the loss of stereoscopic depth perception. With early detection, strabismus can be corrected by closing the eye that focuses completely thereby forcing the eye that does not sync to work. Operations or special glasses can also help eye alignment.
- Retinoblastoma is a malignant tumor that usually appears within the first 3 years of life. The affected eye may lose visual and white pupils.
- Amblyopia (lazy eye) is the lack of visual acuity defect that can not be fully corrected with eyeglasses or contact lenses. Two common causes of amblyopia is a cross eye refraction and refractive difference between the eyes. If left untreated, amblyopia can cause permanent vision loss in the affected eye. Amblyopia must be corrected in the pre-school age.
Signs of Eye Disorders
Rarely moving the eyes, do not turn a blind eye when in bright sunlight, or lack of consistent response to the mother's face is a sign of a baby having vision problems in both eyes. Delay stages of vision, eye complaints, watery eyes, likes to squint / blink or frown, and squint eyes are another common sign. Examination by an ophthalmologist who trained highly recommended if these signs are present. Especially, watch out for the following developmental delays in your child :
- In the first week after birth, the baby does not direct the view towards the light or vice versa, just avoid the light.
- At the age of one to two months have not looked at his mother's face.
- At the age of three to four months did not see his hands. He did not smile on the faces are familiar.
- At the age of six months does not capture the object to be brought to the mouth. He seems not to distinguish faces familiar with strangers.
- At the age of nine months did not react to sudden movements. He did not look for objects that disappear from view.
- Sitting too close to the TV
- Frequent squinting
- The inability to see objects from far away
- Difficulty reading
- The inability to read the blackboard
Try putting an interesting object in front of one eye and observe how your baby reacts to the object. Objects can face you or a small toy, such as brightly colored dolls. Reaction would indicate the presence and quality of vision in the eye being tested. In this case you should not use an object that reads, for example, small bells, because it will be difficult to determine whether the baby to see or hear the bell.
Once toddlers begin to speak, he could be invited to participate in the testing process. The pictures or familiar objects, such as toys, dolls, and others can be used for testing. Children are asked to identify the object shown. Each eye must be tested separately, with the other eye closed, because that's the best way to find out whether there are differences in the ability of vision.
Immediately to an ophthalmologist to cope and deal with problems in the eye so that the children health issues can be overcome. As the main key to success in healing the eye is early detection.
