A Guide to Strabismus in Children

Genetics plays a key role in the development of strabismus and therefore there are a lot of cases of strabismus in children. This is the reason why strabismus in children is a very important health issue. Unfortunately a few people think that children will grow out of it eventually and do not do anything to help their children. In fact, strabismus in children can be cured as early as ten years of age if they are treated with eyeglasses and corrective patches early on. Here are some useful information about strabismus in children.

If you notice that your baby is exhibiting early signs of strabismus in children, it is highly recommended that you have the child have his or her first eye exam when he or she is already 9 months old.

This is the recommended age since it is during this time that the binocular vision system is fully functional already. This entails the eye muscle coordination, the ability to see 20/20, and the focusing ability. Therefore this is the optimal time to have the eyes of your child examined for such eye anomalies. Furthermore, the eye at this stage is very receptive to treatments. However, if the child is less than 9 months old but is already showing extreme or consistent eye turns, then by all means have his or her eye examined by an expert.

Some examples of strabismus in children are infantile estropia and accommodative estropia. Infantile estropia is the condition that is characterized by constant inward turning of the eyes which happens before the child is 6 months old. Meanwhile, the latter refers to the inward turning of the eyes that take place between the ages of 6 months and 7 years old.

The cure of strabismus in children may differ depending on the case. One of the most ordinary treatment procedures that are utilized is by prescribing eyeglasses. What it does is that it removes the turning of the eyes and also the optical difference between the two eyes. Another treatment method for strabismus in children is the use of eye patch. The eye patch functions to rouse the lazy eye which helps prevent double vision.