From ptosis, strabismus and other developmental problems to different types of refractive errors, all are serious defects that children can get. Therefore, it’s of crucial importance that you know what to watch out for in your child’s development.
It’s imperative that you also know that eye defects are sure to be permanent unless treatment begins at the earliest. The problem the child is diagnosed with determines the course of action taken by ophthalmologists. Make sure that you consult the best Dubai eye specialist to have the best chance of countering the following problems:
Refractive Errors:
The structure of the eye demands that everything is perfect in order to have perfect vision. When the power of optics, the angle at which it falls on the retina, the surface of the cornea or anything else is not in ideal shape and position, refractive errors occur. Eyes with refractive errors while viewing distant objects are called ametropic.
These errors are of the following types:
Myopia:
Usually known as nearsightedness, myopia is a refractive error that occurs when the length of the eyeball is too long. This means that the optic power is too powerful for the eyeball. Therefore, vision is blurred and concave lenses or optical surgeries like LASIK or LASEK are used to treat patients.
Hyperopia:
Farsightedness or hyperopia occurs when the length of the eyeball is too short. This causes the optic power to be too weak to reach the retina correctly. Resultantly, the vision for close objects becomes blurred. Convex lenses or optical surgeries are used to treat patients.
Strabismus:
Everyone knows how some people have crossed or squinty eyes. This is because of a condition called strabismus. This misalignment of the eyes occurs because both the eyes are pointing in different directions. Strabismus can occur in every 1 out of 25 children. This disease can cause amblyopia and loss of depth perception in children.
Types of strabismus are:
Exotropia:
When the eyes appear to diverge in the person, the condition is called exotropia.
Esotropia:
When the eyes appear to be crossed, the condition is known as esotropia.
Hypertropia:
When the eyes of the patient are vertically misaligned, the condition is called hypertropia.
Treatments of strabismus involve patching or glasses along with exercises and surgeries. The pediatric ophthalmologist can best diagnose the problem and recommend the best procedure.
Chalazion:
Sometimes, children’s eyelids start swelling whenever there is a blockage in the upper and lower eyelid glands. Having a yellowish ooze coming out of the eyelid, swelling or redness in the eyelid, consult a doctor. Chances are that your kid has chalazion or many chalazia on their eyelids.
Although people tend to underestimate the problem, this can become as serious as causing vision problems. This happens when the chalazion grows big enough to start covering the pupil of the child’s eye.
Ptosis:
Similar to chalazion and difficult to distinguish, Blepharoptosis or simply, Ptosis is what we commonly call a droopy eyelid. This is a problem that again, might not seem important enough to people in itself, but can definitely bring about bigger ones.
Ptosis mostly occurs when the child isn’t getting enough sleep or the muscles of the eye become tired. This is probably why it’s also referred to as the lazy eye.
Amblyopia:
This is an eye defect that occurs when both the eyes aren’t receiving an equally clear picture. Amblyopia is a disease that is likely to appear in children who have refractive errors, strabismus, ptosis or cataracts.
The important thing with amblyopia is that it occurs due to improper development and it isn’t a birth defect. Therefore, it’s possible to avoid getting this problem with proper care.
All in all, it’s imperative that you should consult a good pediatric ophthalmologist in Dubai, if your little ones suffer from any of the above-discussed issues to get proper treatment as early as possible.
