Symptoms Of Child’s Eye Problems

Parents who are aware and conscious of the health of the child, are very particular about health checkups of the child. As a result of advertisement campaign a lot of awareness has come and most of the parents are fully aware about the immunization programme and take the child for administration of medicines at proper time.

However, most of the parents are not fully aware of the need of vision examination of the children. Eyes are an important part of the human being without which life becomes dull and useless. It is necessary that before the child starts going to school, vision should be checked and if needed remedial measures taken.

The child may suffer from a number of eye problems. The moment the parents notice the existence of some problem they should immediately fix up an appointment with an ophthalmologist for eye check. A child may be suffering from different eye problems the symptoms of which are briefly described hereunder.

• Redness of eyes is a common problem with the children. This is mainly caused by rubbing of the eyes or as a result of infection caused due to touching of the eyes with dirty hands. The parents of small kids should keep some eye drops handy. If even after administration of eye drops the problem does not subside, consult the doctor.

• Squinting is a common eye problem. While watching TV or blackboard or other object in dim or bright light the child may squint i.e. does not look straight or cannot focus properly. The child looks at an object and it appears he is looking at something else.

• Crossed eyes or involuntary movement of eye balls are other problems faced by children. These problems can be cured to some extent by eye exercises suggested by the specialist. However in extreme cases surgery may be required.

• If your child tries to go too close to the television set while watching some programme or keeps the book very close to eyes while reading, it gives a clear signal of impairment of eyesight. The child may need glasses to improve vision level. It is better that the child should get glasses at the earliest so that further retardation of eyesight is reduced, and  watching from a close distance  may not become a habit.

• If your child stumbles over some objects quite often he or she may need eye glasses to rectify the level of vision.

• If the child is unable to read a book properly or complaints of headache after studying even for a short time, this should be taken as a clear signal of need of eye checkup.

It should be remembered that starting treatment should not be delayed as the whole life of your child is likely to be effected due to impairment.