Treatment of Childhood Astigmatism

Astigmatism in children is a so-called refractive error of the eye. Most often, a baby is already born with an irregularly shaped cornea or lens. This changes the normal way light passes, or refracts onto the retina; as a result, a visual image is focused in front or behind the retina, rather than directly on it. To a child with astigmatism objects appear blurred or slightly distorted.

Likelihood of developing astigmatism is inherited. But sometimes it may also occur as a result of an injury to the eye or developmental disorders of the dentition.

Symptoms of Astigmatism

In most cases, childhood astigmatism may be detected and diagnosed by an ophthalmologist during an eye examination as early as from two years of age. Parents should immediately bring their child to the eye doctor for an unscheduled eye exam if he or she keeps complaining of poor vision, headaches, pressure or discomfort behind the eyes, rapid fatigability.

The sooner astigmatism is detected and corrective measures are taken, the better the results of the treatment are. If you fail to consult your doctor in time, irreversible vision loss may occur, or strabismus and amblyopia (“lazy eye”) may develop.

At Okomedikas Clinic in Cherkasy your child can have a thorough, in-person optometric eye examination. If astigmatism is detected, our specialists will provide the best vision correction technique customized for his or her individual needs.

Treatment of Childhood Astigmatism

One of the most important astigmatism correction options is wearing the right glasses. Children with astigmatism should visit an ophthalmologist every six months. It is very important to monitor eye growth and change their lenses in time.

With astigmatism vision correction should begin as early as possible, before your kid starts school. During the eye exam, the eye doctor will tell you how to reduce your child`s risk of eye strain, and what eye exercises should be done at home on a daily basis.