1. Is dilated optometry harmful to children’s eyes?
The norm is not called dilated optometry, but ciliary muscle paralysis optometry. The purpose of this is that children are very capable of adjusting, and optometry without paralysis of the ciliary muscle will result in a smaller farsightedness than the real one. Paralysis of the ciliary muscle will suppress the child’s eye regulation and give a more realistic and reliable result. The pupil will be dilated and photophobia will occur after the ciliary muscle paralysis drug is ordered, but currently short-acting ciliary muscle paralysis drugs are commonly used, and the pupil size will return to normal after 4-6 hours of ordering the drug, and photophobia will disappear, with no damage to the eye.
2. My 3-year-old daughter has +2.50 DC astigmatism in both eyes, I don’t want to give her glasses, can I?
No. At the age of 3, the child is in the critical period of visual development, due to the astigmatism of both eyes, the objects cannot be clearly imaged on the retina of both eyes, which will affect the development of the child’s vision and may lead to amblyopia.
3. My 4-year-old daughter’s vision is only 0.6 in both eyes, is she amblyopic?
No. Children’s vision development standards are different from those of adults, and it is not necessary to require 1.0 vision in both eyes, just as we would not say that a 4-year-old child who is not 1.6 meters tall is dwarf. For these children, the lower limit of normal visual acuity is 0.5 for children aged 3-5 years old and 0.7 for children aged 6 years old and above. for these children, the visual acuity of both eyes is symmetrical, and after excluding organic eye pathology, we need to further investigate whether there are any risk factors that cause amblyopia. if not, we can observe and follow up.
4. My son’s amblyopic eye has reached 1.0 last month, has it been cured and does not need follow-up?
No. The criteria for curing amblyopia are: the amblyopic eye has normal vision, the patient has good binocular vision, and it has been stable for more than 3 years. During this period, the patient still needs to be followed up once every 3-6 months to avoid the recurrence of amblyopia.
5. Is there no treatment for adult amblyopia?
Adult amblyopia can be treated, but the treatment is less effective and more time-consuming than in pediatric patients. However, this does not mean that there is no treatment for adult amblyopia. In our clinical work, we have encountered some adult amblyopic patients who have recovered to normal vision in the amblyopic eye through comprehensive treatment. Therefore, we recommend that eye examinations be performed on children as early as possible to detect abnormalities and provide timely diagnosis and treatment.
6.Can my child have an eye examination if he/she does not know the visual acuity chart?
Yes. We can find out whether the child has organic eye pathology, refractive abnormalities, strabismus and so on. At the same time, we have special methods and instruments to evaluate the vision of infants and toddlers, such as: optokinetic nystagmograph, selective viewing method, etc., which can evaluate the vision of infants and toddlers and detect abnormalities as early as possible.
7. I don’t want to give my child glasses, but the more I wear them, the deeper they get, and I can’t take them off.
A: Generally speaking, the degree of myopia will gradually increase with physical development. But farsightedness is different from myopia, babies are born in a farsighted state, later in the process of growth and development, gradually become orthoptic, this process is called the formalization process of the eye. Therefore, the child’s farsightedness will gradually decrease, but if the farsightedness is too high and the child cannot see clearly through the adjustment, then amblyopia may be formed.
8. Can I treat my amblyopic child with masking on my own without going to the doctor?
No. Without the supervision of a physician, the risk of developing strabismus increases.
9. Is there a relationship between amblyopia and strabismus?
Amblyopia, especially monocular amblyopia, can cause strabismus. In the case of strabismus patients, if they cannot alternate gaze, long-term gaze with all eyes, non-gaze eyes can form amblyopia.
10.Strabismus is a cosmetic surgery, can I wait until my child grows up before surgery?
No, you cannot. Many parents think that strabismus will get better when the child grows up or just affects the appearance, so they can treat it after they grow up. In fact, this is wrong. If treated after growing up, although the appearance can be improved, the stereopsis may be lost forever. Early treatment of strabismus will not only improve the appearance and the range of hazards associated with it, but will also establish stereopsis.