Departments. Pediatric Ophthalmology

Parent’s observation improves good vision of the children; they are the first people to detect visual alteration in their children. What diseases are the most frequent and how we can detect them?

REFRACTIVE DEFECTS:

MYOPIA: Is produced by excess of convergence or an increase in the length of the eye that stops the correct vision of the eyes. It can be detected when the children bring forward the texts, watch the television from short distance or have headaches.

HYPEROPIA: Is due to a convergence defect and stops a clear vision from near. Its initial signs are headaches, laziness for reading, itching, burning pain, photophobia, difficulty in reading and writing.

ASTIGMATISM: The focusing of image is realised in different places, the child sees badly from near and far. It is detected by redness, headaches, itching and rubbing.

These alterations can be corrected by using glasses or contact lenses.

AMBLIOPIA or LAZY EYE: It is due to a difference in visual accuracy at both eyes, which is not improved with optic correction. The vision of each eye must be tested separately. The child sees worse by an eye than another.

The early diagnostic is essential, because the younger the patient the more possibilities there are for a successful treatment.

The treatment consists in correcting the refractive defect by contact lenses or glasses and visual rehabilitation for obtaining a good vision in each eye separately and a good coordination between them.

Realised exercises that repeat all the phases of visual learning and development. The earlier it is detected the easier is to recover.

STRABISMUS: Consists in lack of movement coordination and in loss of parallelism in both eyes. It can be caused by refractive defects, by motor or sensitive defects, a traumatism, brain paralysis…

It is treated depending to the causes, with optic correction, surgery by forcing or weakening different muscles of the eye, injecting botulinic toxin in the muscle.

The visual rehabilitation is used for improving motor and sensitive functions before and after surgery.

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