Pediatric Optometry
Pediatric Optometry is a subspecialty of optometry that is concerned with eye diseases, visual development, and care in children. Pediatric Optometry focuses on childhood eye misalignment and disorders, as well as adult eye movement problems.
Why is the pediatric eye and visual system different from an adults?
The brain's visual processing and eye movement control centers are not fully developed or mature when we are born. The cells and their functions are developed throughout the first decade of life. Because of the immaturity of the child's visual system, disorders that may have little effect on adult's ability to see can have a profound and lifelong effect on a child's vision.
Strabismus
Strabismus is a misalignment of the eyes. There are many forms of strabismus such as esotropia when one eye may be turned in and exotropia when one eye may be turned out. Eye alignment is normally unsteady at birth, but the eyes should be straight by 4 months of age. Any infant who continues to show an eye misalignment after 4 months of age or a child who alter acquires strabismus should have a complete eye examination. Strabismus can be treated with surgery, glasses, or eye exercises, depending on the degree of strabismus and the cause.
Blocked Tear Ducts
Blocked tear ducts occur in about 6 out of 100 newborns.
1 in 5 newborns has a tear duct that is not fully developed.
The cause of blocked tear ducts is a delay in the opening of the tear ducts inside the nose. This duct is the tiny tube that leads from the inner corner of the eye to inside the nose. Healthy eyes constantly make tears to keep the eye moist. Tears normally drain from the tear duct down into the nose. Eyes can become watery because of too many tears or because the tear duct is blocked.
Amblyopia
Amblyopia is often referred to as lazy eye. Amblyopia is the medical term for a loss of vision in an apparently healthy eye. An eye imbalance can occur when there is cataract, strabismus, ptosis (droopy eyelid), eye injury, or refractive error that is worse in one eye. This occurs in infants and young children if there is an imbalance of the image received between the two eyes. Amblyopia does not usually have symptoms and is often discovered at a school vision screening. Ideally, it is treated by an eye doctor before the child is 6 to 10 years old or the vision loss will be permanent. Treatment entails correcting the underlying problem and encouraging the child to use the lazy eye wearing glasses and/or wearing a patch over the "good" eye or by instilling an eyedrop to the good eye.
Why is the pediatric eye and visual system different from an adults?
The brain's visual processing and eye movement control centers are not fully developed or mature when we are born. The cells and their functions are developed throughout the first decade of life. Because of the immaturity of the child's visual system, disorders that may have little effect on adult's ability to see can have a profound and lifelong effect on a child's vision.
Strabismus
Strabismus is a misalignment of the eyes. There are many forms of strabismus such as esotropia when one eye may be turned in and exotropia when one eye may be turned out. Eye alignment is normally unsteady at birth, but the eyes should be straight by 4 months of age. Any infant who continues to show an eye misalignment after 4 months of age or a child who alter acquires strabismus should have a complete eye examination. Strabismus can be treated with surgery, glasses, or eye exercises, depending on the degree of strabismus and the cause.
Blocked Tear Ducts
Blocked tear ducts occur in about 6 out of 100 newborns.
1 in 5 newborns has a tear duct that is not fully developed.
The cause of blocked tear ducts is a delay in the opening of the tear ducts inside the nose. This duct is the tiny tube that leads from the inner corner of the eye to inside the nose. Healthy eyes constantly make tears to keep the eye moist. Tears normally drain from the tear duct down into the nose. Eyes can become watery because of too many tears or because the tear duct is blocked.
Amblyopia
Amblyopia is often referred to as lazy eye. Amblyopia is the medical term for a loss of vision in an apparently healthy eye. An eye imbalance can occur when there is cataract, strabismus, ptosis (droopy eyelid), eye injury, or refractive error that is worse in one eye. This occurs in infants and young children if there is an imbalance of the image received between the two eyes. Amblyopia does not usually have symptoms and is often discovered at a school vision screening. Ideally, it is treated by an eye doctor before the child is 6 to 10 years old or the vision loss will be permanent. Treatment entails correcting the underlying problem and encouraging the child to use the lazy eye wearing glasses and/or wearing a patch over the "good" eye or by instilling an eyedrop to the good eye.