Farsightedness in children

What is farsightedness

– Farsightedness (or hypermetropia) in children is called ametropia (refractive error), which is accompanied by a blurry image on the retina, as the image of objects is focused not on the retina, but in the plane behind it, – says pediatric ophthalmologist Olesya Kinzyabulatova.

Causes of farsightedness in children

The main cause of farsightedness in children is either congenital or acquired shortening of the anterior-posterior axis of the eye (eye length), or age-related discrepancy between the length of the eye and the refractive power of its optical apparatus. That is, the younger the child, the more convex in shape his cornea and lens are.

– It is statistically known and proven that the majority of children (about 90%) are born with hyperopic, the so-called “plus” refraction (an average of + 2,0-3,5 diopters). In the vast majority of children (more than 82%), by the end of the first year, the “plus” value decreases to 1-1,5 diopters.

But we are all different. It happens that a child, for various reasons, is initially born with an anatomically “short” eye (or eyes) in comparison with peers, or gets an eye injury at an early age, which leads to the formation of farsightedness. This is neither good nor bad, it is a feature of a particular child. Timely identified and corrected, it allows the child to develop fully, – explains the specialist.

There are three degrees of farsightedness (hypermetropia):

Signs of farsightedness in children

In the structure of refractive errors, farsightedness occurs in 25-27% of children. When and how can parents suspect farsightedness in their child? Not all children complain due to age or personality traits. Therefore, we look, see and listen, hear our children.

So, let’s see:

• Violation of friendly eye movement, deviation of one eye or both eyes to the nose, less often to the temple, the child often “looks sideways”;
• Asymmetry of the palpebral fissures;
• The child pushes the book away while reading, does not like to draw, color, mess with small toys;

Let’s listen and hear:

• The child may complain of rapid fatigue when reading and writing, when doing small work at close range (constructor, beadwork, drawing, coloring, etc.);
• Headache of varying intensity, dizziness;
• Pain in the bridge of the nose, painful or unpleasant sensations in the eyes (cramps, burning), pain in the superciliary arches, a feeling of “sand” in the eyes, lacrimation.

Treatment of farsightedness in children

Only an ophthalmologist, based on the results of a detailed examination, can determine the tactics of treating your particular child. It doesn’t work here “but my friends and relatives had this…” or “but for now we’ll wait until kindergarten, before school…”. The problem needs to be addressed in a timely manner here and now. You need to remember that untreated and uncorrected farsightedness worsens, and often irreversibly, the quality of life of your child!

– Depending on age and concomitant eye pathology, the doctor may suggest the selection of glasses for permanent wear (no contraindications at all) or recommend contact correction (relevant for anisometropia, as well as for school-age children and those actively involved in sports). Also, the doctor may recommend occlusion (long-term daily gluing with glasses or contact lenses better than the seeing eye or their alternate gluing) or hardware treatment (its types, frequency and timing). Hardware treatment has practically no age and any other contraindications (except for epilepsy and gross organic brain damage), it is absolutely painless, children quickly get used to it, – says Olesya Kinzyabulatova, a pediatric ophthalmologist.

Laser correction of farsightedness in children is not performed, because the eyes are still growing. And you need to understand that when the child grows up and if he decides to do laser correction, then the visual acuity will be the same as it was before the operation with glasses or contact lenses. If a child did not wear glasses, contact lenses, did not receive hardware treatment until reaching the age of majority, laser correction will not help in any way, alas.

It is worth noting once again that only regular monitoring and implementation of all the recommendations of an ophthalmologist to ensure maximum visual acuity of your child will allow him to grow and develop correctly.

Diagnostics

With high-quality equipment and high qualification of an ophthalmologist, the diagnosis of farsightedness is not a problem. The main thing is the timely appeal for help.

The scope of the examination is determined by the age of the child and his ability to contact the doctor (does the child talk or not, does he understand what is required of him to do). During the examination, and depending on the age of the child, the doctor is likely to:

• will determine the visual acuity of the child according to the table (in children who do not talk, they determine the tracking of the toy);
• determine the volume of eye movements (if there are any restrictions);
• the magnitude of farsightedness in a narrow pupil and after instillation of special drops that expand the pupil (refraction – is it symmetrical in both eyes or not, is there any astigmatism);
• check for the presence of concomitant pathology (or its absence);
• determine the nature of vision (the child looks with one eye, in turn with each, or with two eyes) and the angle of deviation of the eyes / eyes;
• measure intraocular pressure;
• perform an eye examination.

Often, farsightedness is combined with convergent strabismus (impaired eye movement), astigmatism (another type of ametropia that gives a blurry image on the retina due to corneal irregularities), amblyopia (weak vision, or as it is also called “lazy eye”) and anisometropia (different refraction and visual acuity between the eyes). The combination of farsightedness with concomitant ocular pathology worsens the prognosis for vision. Perhaps the ophthalmologist will recommend a consultation with a neurologist. And if the combination of the pathology of the organ of vision with the pathology of the nervous system is confirmed, observation and treatment by a neurologist.

Prevention of farsightedness in children at home

• It is necessary to try not to overwork the eyes, take breaks in reading and writing, visual work at close range, the correct organization of the workplace for schoolchildren and its sufficient lighting are of great importance;
• During breaks for 10-15 minutes, visual gymnastics should be performed on extreme leads (eye movements horizontally and vertically 10-12 movements in each direction), circular eye movements (clockwise and counterclockwise 5-7 times), exercise with a “mark” on the glass (at eye level we glue a mark 5 mm in diameter and look at 30-40 seconds 15-20 times into the distance and onto the mark);
• To help all children, the daily routine, good sleep, sports, walking for at least 1,5-2 hours a day, healthy eating, eating berries, fruits, vegetables and animal protein, taking multivitamins and antihypoxants in the off-season;
• And, of course, one should remember about observing the regimen of visual loads in children, depending on age.

Popular questions and answers

Children’s ophthalmologist Olesya Kinzyabulatova will help us answer the questions: