Features of strabismus treatment in children

Among children's eye diseases, one of the most common is strabismus. This pathology requires urgent treatment, otherwise the child risks remaining an invalid. For therapy, surgical or non-surgical methods may be used. Here everything depends on the stage of development of the pathology and age of the child. In this article, we will understand the causes of strabismus in children and the treatment of this disease.

Definition of disease

Strabismus is a pathological process, which consists in the inability of the child to focus his eyes on the object of interest with two eyes simultaneously.Under normal conditions, the muscles of the organ of vision move in tandem. This allows you to focus your eyes on one place. If the work of the muscles is broken, then one or two eyes deviate from the central axis (look in different directions). Thus, it is not possible to combine the picture into one whole.

Minor deviations from the norm occur in almost all infants.

In children up to 2 months, there is no possibility of fixing the sight due to weakness of the eye muscles and insufficient control over them.So strabismus at this age is considered the norm.By 3-6 months the baby will be able to coordinate the movements of the eyes.

As for the types and forms of strabismus, they are described in this article.

Causes

The following factors can affect the development of strabismus:

1. Hereditary factor.
2. Premature babies, whose weight is 2 kg or less.
3. Neuromuscular diseases.
4. Congenital pathologies of eye and eye muscles.
5. The expressed form of refractive disorders.
6. Tumors of the nervous system or eyes.
7. Cataract.
8. Injuries and infections.
9. Systemic pathologies.

It is especially necessary to check the visual acuity of children who are at risk. They have a very high probability of strabismus.

Symptoms

Strabismus in children may occur with mild symptoms. This should include:

• alternating mowing of eyes;
• regular headaches;
• dizziness;
• lack of the ability to direct the eye to a single point and hold it in place;
• one eye begins to close in bright light;
• the baby pulls his head or tilts it at an unnatural angle to focus the eye - this symptom can still talk about progressive farsightedness or myopia;
• a kid during games or walks stumbles upon various objects.

If the child's age is from 3 years, then he is already able to describe his feelings on his own. He complains about the bifurcation of objects, constant fatigue, a sharp decline in vision.

Possible complications

Because of strabismus, the child's visual acuity decreases. If strabism is not treated, the decline in vision will progress further. The incoming information from both eyes is perceived unevenly by the visual analyzer and this leads to the development of a pathology such as amblyopia.The danger of complication is the development of atrophic and dystrophic reactions in the visual organ until its complete loss.

Initially, there is an increase in intraocular pressure, pressing on the optic disc. Appear stagnation. After the inflammatory process begins in the optic nerve to its full atrophy. There is blindness. The visual body loses its function and begins its rejection by the body.

Amblyopia

Treatment

Medication

When taking medications, you must perform special gymnastics for the eyes, combining it with hardware treatment. Due to the medicines used, it is possible to relax the muscle tissue and blunt the vision. The goal of therapy is to increase the burden on the organ of vision and make it function actively.

To treat childhood strabismus, ophthalmologists use hardware methods. Due to the monobinoscope, it is possible to stop amblyopia, double vision. This result is achieved due to the fact that light rays cause irritation of the retina. Still can apply sinoptophor. It is effective in treating sensory strabismus, as well as with an impressive angle of divergent and descending strabismus.

Gymnastics with strabismus

Surgery

Very often the cause of strabismus development is in extraocular muscles.To solve the problem, an operation is necessary.It is these muscles that undergo surgical intervention. The surgeon during the operation should correctly position the eyeballs and restore binocular vision.

Before the operation, you need to make sure there are no other pathologies. This will get maximum effectiveness.

Today, 3 types of operations are used in the treatment of strabismus:

1. Weakening muscle traction.
2. Strengthening traction.
3. Changing the direction of the muscles.

Surgery for strabismus

The first group includes such surgical interventions:

• recession,
• myoectomy,
• back fixing seams.

The recession is an operative intervention, by which the muscle traction is relaxed. This is achieved by moving the attachment point of the tract closer to the beginning of the muscle. Such manipulation can be subjected to all the eye muscles, except the upper oblique.

Conducting a recession with strabismus

The operation is as follows:

1. The doctor secures the muscle, detaching it from the surrounding tissues.
2. The outer quarter of the tendon of the muscle imposes two resorptive sutures and cuts it from the sclera of the organ of vision.
3. The doctor measures the magnitude of the recession and marks it on the sclera.
4. At the end of the stump, the muscles are sewn to this place.

Myectomy is an operation, the essence of which is the cutting off of the muscle from its fixation point.After that, its subsequent fixation in another place does not occur. Most often, this manipulation is performed for the lower oblique muscle, as in the case of child's strabism, the function of this particular muscle is most often disturbed.

Rear fixation sutures are an operative intervention, the essence of which is to reduce the muscle traction force without changing the original fixation point. In the beginning, the muscle recession is carried out, and then her abdomen is hemmed not with resorptive sutures to the sclera behind her fixation site.

Rear fixation stitches with strabismus

Folk remedies

To ease the symptoms of strabismus in children, you can use the following folk remedies:

• Root of calamus. Due to this product, it is possible to strengthen the eye muscles. But older children can use this option. To get a decoction you need to take 10 g of the plant, pour 200 ml of boiling water. The filtered composition should be taken 3 times a day for ¼ cup.
• Cabbage leaves.They perfectly improve vision. It is necessary to weld 4-5 leaves and bathe 4 times a day.
• Black currant and dog rose.To stop the development of strabismus, you need to take 100 g of fruit and pour 1 liter of boiling water. Infuse 5 hours, filter and sweeten with honey. Receive a dose of 200 ml 3 times a day.

• Carrot juice helps to improve vision.It can be mixed with other juices to somehow diversify. Excellent cucumber and beetroot.
• Decoction of pine needles.To prepare the broth, you need to take 100 g of needles and pour, l boiling water. Set in a water bath for 10 minutes. Admission weights of 80 ml per day. Such treatment is of a lasting nature.
• Clover.Take 50 g of finely chopped herbs, pour a glass of boiling water. Filter and take ¼ cup 2 times a day.
• Drops from dill.Take 10 g of dill powder and pour 200 ml of water. The filtered compound should be used for instillation into the eye 3 times a day.
• Drops of apples.Take 3 parts of apple juice and honey, combine with one part of the onion juice. Drops drip eyes before night rest for 10 days.

Prevention

To prevent the development of strabismus in children, it is necessary for parents to drive them for a preventive examination to the ophthalmologist every six months. In addition, the child must comply with the rules of personal hygiene and avoid excessive workload. If there are various eye diseases and infections, they should be treated as soon as possible.

Video

conclusions

Childhood strabismus is a common problem today. The task of parents is reduced to its timely detection and treatment. If this process is started, it is fraught with deterioration of vision, which will not be normalized.