Pediatric astigmatism: causes and symptoms

The most intense formation of visual perception in an infant occurs during the first year of life. However, up to the school age, the child's eyes can still undergo significant changes. That is why in the preschool period, constant monitoring of the child's vision is important, since even the slightest deviations at birth in case of its progression can get the strongest visual defect. Such deviations include child astigmatism. Whether or not astigmatism is treated in children, you will learn in this article.

Definition of disease

Astigmatism is a distorted perception of visual objects caused by the simultaneous presence of two optical foci in one eye, and none of them is in the right place.This can occur as a result of an irregular shape of the cornea (in most cases), however, as a cause of the formation of a visual defect, a lens or an eyeball may act.

With astigmatism, the image is formed before or behind the retina, and there is a blurriness and even deformity of certain objects - instead of the point of the diseased eye, one can see a dash or an oval.

Most children are born with a low degree of astigmatism, which by 1 year comes to less than 1 D, which, in principle, is the norm. About ¼ of the planet's inhabitants have this "physiological" astigmatism, which does not have a significant impact on the quality of life.

Causes

Most often, the wrong visual perception arises from a genetic predisposition, but the acquired character of the disease is not excluded.Astigmatism - a violation of visual perception due to the wrong shape of the cornea, curvature of the lens or too oblate the shape of the eye.

The main reasons for the appearance of astigmatism in children are genetic.If the parents were present with similar problems, then the likelihood of developing a baby's such a visual defect is also great. This is why you need constant monitoring of vision in children in the first years of life. Usually, in the presence of astigmatism, its first manifestations can be diagnosed by 2 years.

In very rare cases, astigmatism acquired may occur, as a result of mechanical or chemical trauma to the eye, as well as after surgery on the eye. Sometimes the cause of the appearance of this visual defect may be a subluxation of the lens or a pathology of the dentoalveolar system, leading to deformation of the orbital walls.

Symptoms

A small child, of course, can not sufficiently clearly describe his visual sensations,However, the presence of certain signs should encourage parents to an extraordinary visit to the ophthalmologist with the intention of conducting a more thorough examination.

Symptoms of astigmatism may include the following symptoms:

• A small child does not want to do drawing or viewing pictures,and older children do not want to read and write, although at this age most of the kids enjoy studying and enjoying new activities;
• Children with visual impairment in an attempt to better consider the subject or picture tilt the head or screw up their eyes, since often astigmatism is accompanied by such violations as myopia (myopia) or hyperopia (hypermetropia);
• Babies are haunted by eye strain in an attempt to view objects and related headaches, dizziness.Therefore, the child often fusses, does not want to engage in, which can be perceived by most parents as a manifestation of laziness.

Depending on the degree of damage, the visual defect may be weak (up to 3D), medium (from 3 to 6D), strong (over 6D).

There are several types of child astigmatism, which has various qualitative characteristics:

• Corneal- the cause is the wrong shape of the cornea;
• Lenticular- appears with a modified lens shape;
• Hypermotropic- accompanied by pronounced hyperopia;
• Myopic- With this form of the disease, myopia is diagnosed;
• Plain- is characterized by impairment only in one eye (may be myopic or hypermetropic);
• Complicated- lesions affect both eyes with the presence of farsightedness or nearsightedness;
• Mixed- Hypermetropic and myopic astigmatism are observed on different eyes;
• Physiological- violations are within the norm (no more, D);
• Pathological- Visual impairment rates exceed 1D.

Statistics show that in 3% of cases when children grow up, the manifestations of this defect decrease in 2%, the symptoms intensify, and in the remaining (slightly more than 40%) children, astigmatism remains constant level.

Possible complications

The main complication arising in the development of astigmatism is a violation, to a large extent, of the quality of life of the child. Astigmatism carries a heightened danger, because the eyes are one of the main organs through which the kid learns the world around him.

In addition to the purely tactile problem caused by the uncertainty of the baby with vague and incorrect images, there is inhibition of development in the psychological plan, because the child can not understand what in fact occurs.

In addition, often accompanying diseases:

• Amblyopia- a lazy eye, when doubling in the brain center, the image is turned off from one eye to get a clear perception. Thus, on this eye vision gradually decreases;
• Strabismus- when trying to bring together different tricks, a friendly strabismus often develops (pupil-to-nose reduction);
• Headaches and dizziness- accompany astigmatism constantly, because the eyes are always in tension in an attempt to obtain a high-quality image.

Ignoring astigmatism in children, even to a small extent, can lead to a significant reduction in visual acuity and the development of other defects in visual perception. Meanwhile, timely diagnosis and correction can, at least, stop the aggravation of visual impairment, and with sufficient effort even weaken it.

Treatment

In most cases, the diagnosis of "astigmatism" is placed in children in the second year of life. After the traditional methods of examination (visometry, ophthalmoscopy, etc.) ), if there is a suspicion of the presence of a visual defect, additional studies can be conducted:

• Ultrasound of the eye;
• Skiascopy(shadow test);
• Keratometry;
• Autorefractometry;
• Computer keratotopography.

After a complete examination, the doctor can accurately determine the nature and extent of visual impairment, and also to choose methods of correction in each concrete case.

Medication Therapy

With a slight degree of astigmatism, which does not exceed the normative indices, correction of visual perception is not carried out.Exceptions are cases where the child even with a low degree of discomfort experiences discomfort: headaches or dizziness.

Conservative methods of eliminating a visual defect include:

• Selection of glasses, which are written strictly individually. Such glasses can be with cylindrical or spherical lenses, depending on the nature of the disturbances. Sometimes you need a combination of lenses with different properties to get a clear and clear image. Points are the most acceptable option for young children, although the kids initially protest against them. However, with good tolerability quickly get used, because vision becomes more qualitative. If the child does not want to wear glasses, they may be too strong and cause a headache. In this case it is recommended to undergo an additional examination to replace the lens;
• Contact lenses- an option for older children, when the child begins to understand what it is and how to behave when wearing lenses. One-day contact toric lenses have the same properties as cylindrical lenses in glasses. Their main advantage is the absence of the need for daily care, so the danger of infection is minimized.

Correction of astigmatism should begin as early as possible, otherwise there is a risk of developing amblyopia or strabismus. In childhood, the optical system of the eye is still in the stage of formation, so the probability of complete correction of vision is quite large. However, this can happen only with the constant wearing of glasses or contact lenses.

Surgically

Operative intervention as a method of correcting a defect in visual perception is not carried out until the child reaches 18 years of age, because the optical system of the eye is still plastic and can be corrected by conservative methods. An exception can be made for cases of severe deterioration progression even with the use of spectacle correction.

Children's astigmatism is not a verdict, because at the age of 18, surgical correction of vision can be performed. In addition, there are chances that the defect will be corrected with the help of glasses or lenses.

Folk remedies

As the general strengthening and preventive agents with astigmatism, the following recipes can be used:

• Use in any form of blueberries and cherriescontaining the most valuable complex of minerals and vitamins necessary for eye health;
• Saturation of the ration of the child with vegetable juices: carrot, beet, cucumber. It is also useful to regularly eat parsley, dill, spinach, celery;
• Infusion of herbaceous grass has a beneficial effect on all eye structures. For 1 liter of boiling water, take 50 g of grass, insist 3 hours and give the child before eating 100 ml three times a day.

However, one should not hope to cure astigmatism by these means, they can only improve metabolism in the eye tissues and contribute to their overall health.

Prevention

Congenital astigmatism, of course, can not be prevented. However, in light or even severe forms, attention should be paid to preventive measures in order to avoid the progression of a visual defect:

• If the doctor diagnosed "astigmatism you should definitely force the child to wear glasses. In case of strong unwillingness of the baby to wear them, go through the examination again - maybe the glasses are too strong, and the child has a headache from them;
• In the place of training should be the correct lighting, so that the baby's eyes do not experience additional tension;
• If necessary, take a long time to teach the child to take breaks every half hour and this time to devote to the exercises for the eyes;
• After a medical consultation, you can drip your baby vitamins for the eyes, and also conduct a course of physiotherapy with recommended ophthalmologist procedures.

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conclusions

Children's astigmatism is not an out-of-the-ordinary phenomenon, therefore, if a child is found to have such a defect, parents should not panic. On the contrary, the earlier this violation was detected, the higher the chances of its successful correction.

Continuity in the wearing of glasses or lenses and regular medical examinations are two main factors, the implementation of which will increase the success of treatment to the possible limits.And even in case of failure, there is still a variant of surgical intervention, and this, when choosing highly qualified specialists, increases the chances of success to 98%.