Some children spend their childhood with vision or hearing problems and never know it until they are "accidentally" detected in adolescence or adulthood. Today we come to explain some tips to detect if our little one has vision problems. There is no reason to get upset, it is not serious, perhaps it is just a few diopters or some common disorder such as farsightedness or astigmatism, which are quite common problems in humans.
Detecting our children's vision problems in time will improve their quality of life, not only in their first years of life, but also in adolescence and adulthood. Vision and hearing problems are the main barriers to school failure, apart from other agents such as lack of attention, motivation, whether there is bullying or not, etc.
Vision problems that are not solved in time, are getting worse as the months and years go by. By this we mean, for example, that if today our child has 2 diopters in his right eye, in a few years it could be double, or cause him some kind of disorder, headaches, dizziness, fatigue, or other adverse effects. of not having a healthy vision.
There are many solutions to a problem as common as vision problems. There are more serious and milder ones, but surely in the case of our son we will find a solution. Of course, special glasses for children and babies are usually somewhat expensive, so we will take this into account as well. But everything is for the health of our son.
Aspects to consider
If we see that our son or daughter does everything or almost everything that we indicate below, it could be because they suffer from vision problems in one or both eyes. It could also be the case that he is following the hobbies or customs of other people around him who do have vision problems, and the child is repeating, for example, saying that he sees poorly in the distance or getting too close to the paper.
Here, only a specialist could determine reality with a series of tests on his eyes. The younger the child, the more annoying these tests will be, but you have to be patient and make the process fun and enjoyable.
Let's keep something very important in mind, a child is not aware of whether he sees well or badly because he has not been able to create real comparisons in his life experience. It can be normal for him to see cloudy, for the letters to dance, to see flashes of light, for the light from the window to bother him, for him to have headaches, etc.
Depending on the age of the child, he may or may not communicate and make us see that something is not quite right. Even so, here are some symptoms that our little one could suffer from vision problems:
- If you squint.
- If you fry your eyes a lot.
- If you have trouble focusing on a target.
- Red eyes.
- Sensitivity to light.
- Cannot track moving objects well.
- If you alternate the winks, you lose, you do not aim well at the target.
- It's very close to paper.
- It's hard for him to read.
- Does not identify each letter or number well.
- It does not distinguish concrete figures at a certain distance.
- Problems identifying colors.
- You have trouble typing fast or reading fast.
As a general rule, in the pediatrician's check-ups, this type of case is caught on time, and even in the first years of school, if we are lucky enough that our son or daughter falls into the hands of a teacher who is attentive to his student body
In any case, to anticipate the situation, we can do sporadic reviews, or even, when our son or daughter learns to identify the letters, we can do specific tests at home.
For example, have him read a piece of cardboard and for each letter we move one meter away; we can also make him close one eye and try to get him to insert a string into a small hoop (an earring); another option would be to practice aiming games; tell us the colors of the shirts; we could also play with objects at a certain speed such as balls or remote-controlled cars.
What to do
It is best to carry out regular check-ups from when we notice the first symptom, it does not matter if our child is 1 or 5 years old. Vision problems can come from birth, or at almost any time, and even due to poor sleeping postures or blows to the eye or blows to the head.
Yes, the fact of always sleeping on the same side (or wearing bangs to one side) can cause the optic nerve of the eye that we cover not to develop properly and cause vision problems in our child.
The best thing we can do is go to a specialist and he will be the one to determine what problems our son has and what is the best solution. When they are under 15 years old, it is best to use glasses with plastic frames and a string so that they do not fall off or get lost.
When they are in their teens, wearing glasses may not be tasteful silver, so if your eye doctor recommends it, you could try the contact lenses option. But here comes the assessment of the specialist and if our son is mature and responsible enough to use the contact lenses. It is also important to see how the eye reacts, as it could react badly by becoming red or causing discomfort and pain.
If we see that the contact lenses don't fit well, the best thing is metal-framed glasses, but if we see that our son is a bit of a disaster, we can continue with the plastic frame. In addition, with regard to crystals there are all kinds of options, it is best to go directly to something that resists falls, bumps and scratches.
When the child is of legal age, some type of surgery could be considered, but always in a clinic with a certain reputation where they study the case in a personalized way and openly show us the pros and cons of surgery. Nowadays, with luck, almost any vision problem can be fixed, but it depends on the severity of each case, among other factors.