Children's Vision Problems
Even if your child doesn't complain of vision trouble, it's important to schedule routine eye exams for your daughter or son to rule out children's eye problems.
According to the American Optometric Association, one in four children in the United States has some type of vision problem. Considering that experts say roughly 80 percent of what children learn is presented visually, good vision in the school years is essential for optimum academic performance.
In fact, according to research conducted by Joel N. Zaba, MA, OD, and sponsored by Essilor Vision Foundation, teenagers who have low SAT scores and mediocre academic records have a high incidence of untreated or undetected vision problems.*
Two significant children's eye problems are amblyopia and strabismus.
Amblyopia is poor vision in an otherwise physically normal eye. Sometimes called lazy eye, amblyopia occurs when the two eyes are not used equally, causing one eye to become the dominant (clear) eye and failure of the other eye to develop normal visual acuity.
Amblyopia can be caused by unequal nearsightedness, farsightedness and/or astigmatism in the two eyes. This type of amblyopia is called refractive amblyopia or anisometropic amblyopia.
Another cause of amblyopia is due to failure of the two eyes to be aligned properly and work together as a team. This is called strabismic amblyopia.
Approximately 1 to 5 percent of children in the United States have amblyopia. In many cases, amblyopia can be corrected with eyeglasses or contact lenses and patching (occluding) the dominant eye to force the weaker amblyopic eye to be used more so good vision can develop in the eye.
Strabismus is a constant or intermittent misalignment of the eyes. The misalignment can be inward, causing "crossed eyes" (esotropia) or it can be outward, resulting in a "wall-eyed" appearance (exotropia).
Strabismus often is present at birth or very early in life. Approximately 2 to 5 percent of American children have strabismus.
In most cases, the only effective treatment for misaligned eyes is strabismus surgery. The eye surgeon adjusts the positioning of one or more of the six extraocular muscles that control the movement and alignment of each eye.
The success rate of strabismus surgery depends on the magnitude of the eye misalignment and the direction of the turned eye (in, out, up or down) in relation to the straight eye. Often, more than one surgery is required to achieve perfect eye alignment.
In some cases, a supervised program of vision therapy is used to help straighten the eyes. Vision therapy consists of a variety of eye exercises and other activities designed to improve the ability of the two eyes achieve and maintain proper alignment and work together as a team.
Generally, vision therapy alone is effective only for certain cases of limited degrees of intermittent strabismus. For large, constant eye misalignments, strabismus surgery or surgery combined with vision therapy usually is required for successful treatment of strabismus.
*Kid's Vision Update. Eyecare Business. October 2009