Astigmatism in children

El astigmatism in children it's a fairly common refractive defect that occurs when the curvature of the cornea is not uniform in all its parts.

It is shown that children with astigmatism have blurred vision of the images at any distance, headache y itchy eyes.

Astigmatism symptoms in children can interfere significantly during their School stageHence the importance of diagnosing and correcting this defect in time.

Keep in mind that Astigmatism may appear alone or be associated with infantile myopia and / or farsightedness, which is why we must rule out the presence of these defects in vision as soon as possible.

Astigmatism in children

El astigmatism in children it's a fairly common refractive defect that occurs when the curvature of the cornea is not uniform in all its parts.

It is shown that children with astigmatism have blurred vision of the images at any distance, headache y itchy eyes.

Astigmatism symptoms in children can interfere significantly during their School stageHence the importance of diagnosing and correcting this defect in time.

Keep in mind that Astigmatism may appear alone or be associated with infantile myopia and / or farsightedness, which is why we must rule out the presence of these defects in vision as soon as possible.

What is astigmatism in children?

Astigmatism is one of the most common refractive defects along with myopia and hyperopia.

However, this visual disturbance can affect vision from a very young age even from birth, causing blurred vision or distorted objects at any distance.

Astigmatism in children is has become one of the main reasons for visiting the pediatric ophthalmologist. This is because may be accompanied by infantile myopia, blurred vision of the images that are at a long distance, e hyperopia in children, blurred vision of the images that are at a short distance.

Diagnose and correct astigmatism on time is very important to prevent it from affecting your school performance, since it can interfere with the correct vision from the desk to the board and, as a consequence, in the assimilation of the subjects taught.

Upon detection of the presence of astigmatism in a young child, the pediatric ophthalmologist should identify the type of astigmatism What is it about:

The difference between each of them is in the distance of the focal point of the rays that enter the eye with respect to the retina.

Causes

When a child has astigmatism, he appreciates objects in a distorted or elongated way. This is because the cornea is not completely round, but rather flattened, as if it were a football.

This flattening at the poles of the cornea with astigmatism causes different radii of curvature in the meridians of the eye. In this way, when light enters the eye, it is projected at different points on the retina and causes blurred vision images at any distance. 

In most cases, this corneal defect is congenital and hereditaryAlthough it can also develop after trauma or eye surgery.

astigmatism in children

Astigmatism in children of 4 years

El Astigmatism in children develops from a very young age and, as we mentioned earlier, is usually congenital.

During the early life, it can be difficult to identify any symptoms that arouse suspicion of that the child has astigmatism.

Generally is from the 4 years when the little one begins to express difficulty in seeing objects correctly And you can already tell your parents that you have symptoms of astigmatism.

For all this, the eye examination in children It is as important as the visit to the pediatrician, since we can diagnose any eye pathology and prevent it in time. 

Symptoms of astigmatism in children

The main symptom of astigmatism in young children is the blurred vision of objects at any distance.

This problem can interfere significantly in the child's daily activities, causing difficulty reading the board or writing in a straight line.

Astigmatism in young children can cause the following symptoms:

  • Visual fatigue.
  • Itchy eyes.
  • Eye pain.
  • Need to turn your head to properly focus on objects.
  • Winking to try to see better.
  • Redness of the eyes.
  • Sometimes the child can dizziness.

Is it corrected?

El eyeball is under development from birth but also what we fulfill 21 years old, approximately.

Therefore, as the child grows and the eyeball develops, it is likely that the degree of astigmatism increases.

El Astigmatism in children is usually corrected through the use of glasses with toric crystals or cylindrical, as they help to counteract the flattened shape of the cornea that causes blurred vision.

On the other hand, when the child is older, we can pose the use of contact lenses, as long as you are old enough to understand the importance suggested by the care and cleaning of contact lenses.

Astigmatism in children when putting on glasses

For dispense with the use of glasses or contact lenses, the eyeball will need to be fully developed. Only then, can you choose the refractive surgery to correct astigmatism permanently.

La astigmatism operation It is a simple, painless and very effective procedure that we perform with laser technology.

Astigmatism in children When to wear glasses?

The age at which a child can start wearing glasses it will depend exclusively on the degree of the refractive defect that it suffers.

For example, there are children with one year of age and a myopia of 5 diopters. In these cases, it is necessary that the little one begins to wear glasses to be able to function properly in his day to day. 

In the case of childhood astigmatism, the child must wear glasses in the following cases

  • If you have 1 year old and the astigmatism is from 3 or more diopters
  • If you have Age 2 and the astigmatism is from 2.5 or more diopters
  • If you have Age 3 and the astigmatism is from 2 or more diopters
  • If you have Age 4 and the astigmatism is from 1.5 or more diopters

Likewise, the use of contact lenses is recommended from 7 years of age, but before making the migration from glasses to contact lenses, it is important to have a conversation with the child to make sure that this is their wish and to explain the responsibility that the care and maintenance of contact lenses suggests.

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Astigmatism in children: how to detect it?
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Astigmatism in children: how to detect it?
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Find out now about what is astigmatism in children, how to detect it and when to wear glasses.
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Área Oftalmológica Avanzada
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