KBT Optical Shoppe

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CHILDREN'S EYE PROBLEMS: The most common of the problems seen in the eyes of children, other than nearsightedness, are those related to lazy eye difficulties, muscle weakness and turns of the eye. Some of these are present at birth while others become evident only later on. Proper diagnosis and management are critical to the development of clear vision which must be established during the first few years of life. Crossing of the eyes is a very common problem in childhood. In many cases this is an illusion caused by the wide and flat bridge of the nose which has not yet developed. True crossing, however, may be present at birth or develop during the first year or two of life. The illusionary "crossing" will always disappear as the child grows since it is not a real crossing in the first place. True crossing is not outgrown. If you think your child has crossed eyes, it is important to have your child examined promptly. With an eye persistently crossing, the vision may decrease in that eye, a condition known as amblyopia or lazy eye. A child may also have a lazy eye without it being crossed. If one eye sees well and the other does not, and if there is no crossing of the eye, you may have no clue that there is even a problem in the first place. By the time it is discovered during the vision screening tests given when your child is 5 years old and in kindergarten, it becomes significantly more difficult to treat. For this reason, even if you have no suspicion of any problem, we suggest you have an initial comprehensive examination your child's eyes by the end of the first year of life. Early amblyopia (lazy eye) can be detected and treated. If you suspect that there might be some problem, let us examine your child at that time, no matter how young. We routinely examine even newborn infants where there may be a suspected problem. Being old enough to read an eye chart in not necessary. READING and LEARNING DISORDERS There are many children who have difficulty reading, reverse their letters or are generally slow at learning. We often receive referrals from pediatricians for complete evaluation of these children's eyes. Certainly this is recommended, for if a child cannot see well, learning may be impaired. However, true learning disabilities such as dyslexia are virtually never based on eye disease. Furthermore, they are NOT improved by the so-called eye muscle exercises that have become popular in recent years. Eye muscle problems do not create learning difficulties. Children do not reverse letters (such as b and d) because of eye problems. Both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Ophthalmology want you to know that these eye exercises are of no value. If your child has learning difficulties, the problem should be left to the learning disabilities specialists and the educators, NOT eye care providers who prescribe eye exercises. Please don't hesitate to talk to our specialists about this important subject. REFRACTIVE PROBLEMS: Far in excess of any other childhood eye problem is simple nearsightedness, technically called myopia. This is not really a disease but rather a continued growth of the eyeball's length.

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