I. What is strabismus?
Strabismus is a condition in which both eyes cannot look at the same object at the same time for various reasons, with one eye facing the front and the other eye facing the other direction. This condition is called “strabismus” and is one of the most common eye diseases in children. Strabismus not only affects aesthetics, but also affects a child’s vision and visual function.
Why are children prone to strabismus?
During pregnancy, the mother is affected by some factors (such as viruses, drugs, bacteria, etc.) that cause one or more of the fetal extraocular muscles to develop poorly, resulting in congenital strabismus.
In some cases, the head and face of the baby are damaged by the use of forceps during delivery, or the mother is overexerted during delivery, resulting in punctate hemorrhage in the fetus due to increased cranial pressure, causing extraocular muscle paralysis.
Due to the imperfect regulation of the newborn’s eye muscles, a transient strabismus process often occurs in the early stages, called physiological strabismus, if parents do not detect and correct it in time, it may develop into a pathological strabismus with uncoordinated vision in both eyes over time.
Tip: Pay attention to the position of your baby’s head when sleeping, don’t sleep to one side for a long time.
Avoid strabismus that occurs when the child pays attention to only one point for a long time.
Because the baby is more sensitive to red color reaction, can sleep in the baby’s crib more than 40 cm in multiple directions hanging red with loud toys, regular shaking, so as to play the role of the baby’s bilateral eye muscle action coordination training.
In the course of the child’s visual development (2-3 years old), the formation of moderate hyperopia is not corrected in time, due to excessive regulation can form refractive regulation of internal strabismus.
Strabismus due to genetic factors mostly develops in early childhood or childhood.
Children, especially infants, have imperfectly developed binocular monovision and cannot coordinate extraocular muscles well, and any unstable factors can contribute to the occurrence of strabismus. The monocular function of human is gradually developed later in life, and the establishment of this function, like the visual function, is gradually developed and matured by repeatedly receiving stimulation from external clear images.
The establishment of precise fusion function lasts until after 5 years of age, and the establishment of stereopsis is the latest, at 6-7 years of age, to approach that of adults. Therefore, the period before the age of 5 when the monocular function of both eyes is not perfect is the high incidence of strabismus in children.
The external strabismus is commonly known as “oblique white eyes”; the internal strabismus is commonly known as “crossed eyes”.
A crooked neck is sometimes a sign of strabismus
What should I do if I have strabismus?
The key to restore normal strabismus is early detection and early treatment. To detect strabismus, we should pay attention to several specific periods from the onset of the disease: after the child’s eyes are opened at birth, observe whether the two eyes are symmetrical; when the child grows up to 5-6 months old, observe whether the two eyes move differently or have a tilted head when being picked up to look at something; observe whether the two eyes are symmetrical; and at 2-3 years old, observe whether the two eyes are asymmetrical. If there are signs, you should go to the hospital immediately.
1. Most patients with strabismus require surgical treatment, but the following tests must be performed first.
(1) Visual acuity and visual function examination.
(2) Correction of refractive error.
(3) Amblyopia treatment is required for those with unbalanced binocular vision.
(4) Refractive adjustment of internal strabismus does not require surgery, and strabismus can be corrected with full correction lenses.
Early detection and treatment will give more chances of functional cure.
Most of the adult strabismus surgery is only cosmetic correction (cosmetic effect).
Fourth, to prevent children from getting “television side-sightedness”
Modern lifestyle is increasingly inclined to “sitting” leisure, children play less time, sitting in front of the television more and more time, “crooked head side vision” phenomenon is also increasing. The so-called tilted head, that is, the child’s face turned to the right or left, head down or head up to watch TV; the so-called side view, the child’s eyes to the side gaze or eyes up or down turn.
This phenomenon is mostly seen in preschoolers, but also in elementary school students. This phenomenon is caused by watching TV and the phenomenon of “tilted head and side vision” is the TV side vision.
Children watching TV for too long, too focused, will unconsciously tilt the head to one side, eyes to the other side of the gaze, and over time will form a habitual action.
If the position of the television set and the child’s head position is not proportional, the child is also prone to television side-gaze. If the TV screen is too low, the child’s head will be tilted too far forward when watching TV; if the TV screen is too high, the child’s head and neck will be tilted too far back.
For this phenomenon, we suggest: preschool children should leave the TV screen after watching 20-30 minutes of TV each time; the sitting posture when watching TV should also be correct, and parents should check the position and height of the TV at home and make appropriate adjustments.
Due to the effects of side vision, almost all children have varying degrees of astigmatism, and some children also have refractive errors, such as myopia or hyperopia. This part of the child should be promptly examined by an ophthalmologist and corrected with appropriate glasses.
If the child has the phenomenon of tilted head and side vision but no refractive error, they should try to watch less TV and no special treatment is needed. As the child grows older, the phenomenon of lopsidedness can disappear.