Astigmatism in children is treated or not? Astigmatism in children: treatment, causes and symptoms

Astigmatism is a visual impairment associated with a focus shift. In this disease, a person sees the image distorted, sometimes blurred and curved. It is often enough to meet astigmatism in children. Whether or not the disease is treated is what we will talk about in this article. Timely detection and diagnosis of the disease is a prerequisite for the correct and successful treatment of the child. Is astigmatism treated in children? It is treated. But you need to start treatment on time.

General information about astigmatism

Astigmatism in a child can occur at any stage of growing up. The causes of astigmatism in children, its symptoms and treatment - all this information should be carefully studied so as not to miss the moment of the onset of the disease. If the disease has already manifested itself, you need to treat it correctly so as not to harm the child. A careless attitude can lead both to a severe deterioration in the ability to see, and to strabismus. Considering astigmatism of the eyes in children and its treatment, it is worth highlighting that there are different forms of astigmatism. Depending on the moment of manifestation, degree of corneal damage and accompanying visual impairment( nearsightedness and farsightedness), specialists distinguish:

• regular and irregular astigmatism;
• simple, complex and mixed form;
• myopic and hypermetropic astigmatism.

Causes of astigmatism

Many people talk about how astigmatism develops in children. Causes, manifestations of the disease are discussed by ophthalmologists from different countries. The first question to be answered is whether the disease is congenital, or acquired.

In congenital disease, the disease is transmitted along with the gene set. After all, the nature of the eyeball, together with the color of the eyes and hair, depends on the parents. Often, most adults who are interested in information such as astigmatism in children, treatment, causes, symptoms of the disease themselves have this disease and know what difficulties await the child, if not treated. The causes of the acquired disease may be different:

• trauma to the eye;
• disease of the cornea of ​​the eye;
• surgery after which scars on the cornea remained;
• lens disruption;
• malfunctioning of the jaw system;
• violations related to the period when the child was in the womb.

Dangerous consequences of the disease

Those who are interested in such issues as, whether astigmatism can be cured and how to treat such a disease in children are probably worried about the consequences of the disease. And they are, and very bad. After birth, a child who has an innate form of astigmatism, sees everything around very vaguely. Then the whole system crashes, including those parts of the brain that are responsible for the work of the visual organs. The next stage of the development of the disease is a sharp deterioration in vision and the inability to improve the quality of the image with the help of glasses or lenses. This stage is characterized by a disease such as amblyopia.

Signs of the disease

When discussing astigmatism in children, whether or not the disease is treated, one can not help uncovering a spectrum such as signs of the disease. It is because of these symptoms that we can see the presence of the disease in a timely manner. The sooner we see the problem, the more chances to cope with it without serious losses. So, signs of the presence of astigmatism are:

• frequent headaches that have the character of migraine;
• when looking at objects, the child squints his eyes, peers for a long time, sometimes tilting his head;
• redness of the eyes, tearfulness;
• moving around in space, the child encounters furniture, frequent falls and stumbling occur, the kid can put a thing past the surface;
• complaints of the child to a distorted picture of the surrounding, curved lines or bifurcation;
• complaints of the baby that the head is spinning or sore spots above the eyebrows;
• eyes are cut and very soon tired;
• the child can not read for a long time, complains of eye fatigue and the inability to see the text.

Having seen the problem, it is not necessary to reflect on what is astigmatism in children, whether or not such a visual defect is treated, whether treatment will be successful. If any of the listed signs were noticed, you should immediately contact a specialist. After the examination and examination, the doctor will be able to make the correct diagnosis. If the child is very small, the diagnosis is carried out with the help of drops for the eyes, and if older, then autorefractometry is performed.

Astigmatism in children: what to do, treatment

Let's stress on the fact that astigmatism is not considered as an inflammatory process, and therefore it is impossible to treat it using medication. How to deal with such a problem? There are two ways:

• application of glasses or their analogues;
• laser correction.

Regarding laser correction, this procedure leads to a good result, but it is contraindicated for children. Correction of vision with a laser can be carried out only if the patient is eighteen years old. The use of glasses is possible from the age when the child can consciously wear them and not perceive glasses as a toy. There are three types of correction in this way.

Points for astigmatism

• Use of complex glasses .These glasses are chosen exclusively by a doctor. At first, the baby may have unpleasant sensations in the form of dizziness and tear. But it passes after a while. If the symptoms remain - you need to see a doctor and change glasses.
• Application of contact lenses. Lenses, of course, are more convenient and do not cause such discomfort as complex glasses. But wearing a lens requires great responsibility, accuracy, careful care. In this regard, not all children can wear lenses.
• Use of solid contact lenses. This method is still known to specialists as orthokeratology. The meaning of the method boils down to the fact that the lenses are worn for the night. While the child is asleep, the lens corrects the shape of the cornea and in the morning the vision improves noticeably. But this method has a short-term effect. Over time, the cornea again returns to its original state, and vision deteriorates. Therefore, you need to use a solid lens every night. But the method is effective only with astigmatism not higher than 1.5 D( measure of optical lenses - dioptry).

Forecasting the treatment of the disease

Of course, starting to treat astigmatism in a child, parents are interested in how successfully astigmatism is treated in children. Causes, treatment, predictions - all this information should be provided to the parents by the attending physician. If the disease is congenital, then with age, the severity of the disease can be reduced. The degree of the disease stabilizes around the sixth year of the child's life. Timely and correct diagnosis, and subsequently suitable treatment, will help to successfully cope with the problem and help the patient to have the ability to see well.

Prevention of the disease

Astigmatism in children is treated or not? This is one of the most frequent questions that people are interested in. We have already answered it above. But in order not to face such a problem, we recommend doing prevention. After all, you can not prevent and prevent the appearance of the disease. Of course, this is not about an innate form, but in any case, preventive measures will be useful for the vision of both healthy and sick children. So, what needs to be done to prevent the acquired astigmatism:

• give the eyes rest after a long period of stress;
• correct lighting where the child spends a lot of time or does homework;
• apply the practice of regular training for the eyes;
• if there is a predisposition of the child to the disease, you need to add massages and therapy.

Astigmatism in children: treatment and exercises

If the topic of treatment we have already revealed above, now I would like to elaborate on the technique of exercises. The following simple exercises are recommended, which help to connect those eye muscles that do not work in simple mode. It is best to do them alternately at least three times daily. Each exercise is recommended to be repeated six times.

1. Movement of eyes up-down, left-right.
2. Rotation of the eyes in a circle in one direction, and then in the other.
3. Quick blinking.
4. Tracking a finger that moves to the bridge of the nose.
5. Go to the window, put a hand on the glass, look at the hand, then look at something far beyond the window. Repeat several times.

In conclusion, I want to note that the health of the child is in our hands. From our actions and persistence depends on how the child will see, and whether to see at all. We have revealed the topic of what is astigmatism in children's eyes, the causes, symptoms, treatment of the disease. Now it's up to you. It depends on how the world sees your child.