We hear more about myopia, farsightedness and astigmatism in our daily life, but what is amblyopia? And what is the harm of amblyopia? Today, the ophthalmologist will talk to you about amblyopia, a common eye disease in children. Amblyopia refers to abnormal visual experiences during visual development caused by monocular strabismus, refractive error, high refractive error and form deprivation, etc. The best corrected visual acuity of one or both eyes is lower than that of normal children of the corresponding age, or the visual acuity of both eyes differs by two lines or more, and there is no organic lesion in the eye examination. The definition of amblyopia is complicated. Simply put, it means that a child has amblyopia if his or her own naked eye vision is poor, but the best corrected visual acuity (best corrected visual acuity) after wearing glasses is still poor and below the normal level that should be present at the appropriate age, and no retinal disease is found in the child’s eye after the doctor’s examination. Normally, children with nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism who can see clearly by wearing glasses and have reached the level of vision appropriate for their age do not have amblyopia. Generally speaking, the normal visual acuity of children of all ages is ≥0.5 at age 3 to 4, ≥0.6 at age 5, ≥0.7 at age 6, and ≥0.8 at age 7. A child can be judged to have amblyopia when the best corrected visual acuity is below 0.5 for children aged 3 to 5 and below 0.7 for children aged 6 and above. The definition shows that the main causes of amblyopia include monocular strabismus, refractive error, high refractive error, and form deprivation. Monocular strabismus is easy to understand, that is, when one eye looks forward, the other eye is to the side, both eyes cannot look forward at the same time; Refractive aberration refers to the difference in refractive error between the two eyes, generally the difference between the nearsightedness or farsightedness of the two eyes ≥ 250 degrees, astigmatism ≥ 150 degrees will easily lead to amblyopia; High refractive error is the high number of myopia, farsightedness and astigmatism, that is, myopia ≥ 600 degrees, farsightedness ≥ 300 degrees, astigmatism ≥ 200 degrees. High refractive error is a high number of myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism, i.e., myopia ≥ 600 degrees, hyperopia ≥ 300 degrees, astigmatism ≥ 200 degrees; and form deprivation refers to congenital ptosis, congenital cataracts, etc. that block the pupil and prevent light from entering the eye, thus making the eye unable to sense light normally. Many people will ask if amblyopia is harmful. Ophthalmologists are responsible to tell you, yes! Amblyopia will not only cause loss of vision in one or both eyes, but also cause loss of binocular vision, fine vision and stereoscopic vision, and the inability to judge the height, distance and depth of objects normally, which will affect your life, such as walking up and down stairs easily, not being able to aim at basketball, not being able to watch 3D movies, etc. Besides, it will also affect your future education and employment, such as scientists, doctors, doctors and other professionals. In addition, it will affect the future education and employment, such as scientists, doctors, pilots, designers and other professions can only be hoped for but not achieved. How do I know if my child has amblyopia? In daily life, you should pay attention to your child’s head tilting, squinting, looking at things very close, or reading and writing in a serial manner, jumping rows, etc. Take your child to the hospital eye clinic as soon as possible, the doctor will conduct a detailed examination of the child, including visual acuity, optometry, intraocular pressure, trial lenses, extraocular muscle function, etc. Through various tests, you can clarify whether your child has amblyopia. The best treatment for amblyopia is before the age of 12, especially before the age of 8, so early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment are very critical. In addition, many children with amblyopia resist amblyopia treatment because of poor self-control and understanding. Parents should maintain an optimistic attitude, provide timely psychological guidance to their children, and communicate with their children’s teachers, relatives and friends to help their children complete treatment. Currently, the prevalence of amblyopia in children in China is about 2-4%, which means that on average, 2-4 children out of 100 have amblyopia, so parents should pay attention to vision care and go to the ophthalmology department for examination from birth. We hope that every child will have a bright future.