Outandabout-Magazine-Oct-issue-191

12 | OUT AND ABOUT COSTA BLANCA
DR. M. ISABEL SIGNES-SOLER
Vision problems are very common among schoolage
children. These issues are often easy to
treat, sometimes requiring little more than a pair of
prescription glasses. But if vision problems aren’t
addressed, it can have lasting effects on your child’s
success in school, personal relationships
and confidence engaging in normal
activities.
It’s important for parents and
teachers to stay mindful of
everyday signs that a child
may need vision correction:
1. They hold books
unusually close to their
face
2. They lose their place as
they read
3. They squint or tilt their
head to see better
4. They sit too close to the TV
5. They rub their eyes a lot
6. Their eyes tear up for no
apparent reason
7. They tend to close one eye during
activities like reading or watching TV
8. They avoid activities that require near vision
(reading, homework, computer use) or distance
vision (sports, other recreational activities)
9. They mention that their eyes are tired or they have
a headache
10. Their grades are lower than normal
Blurry vision may be interfering with your child’s
ability to learn in school. Regular eye exams can
detect and correct this and other vision problems.
If your child shows any of these signs, an optometrist
can help you figure out whether an eye problem is the
underlying cause.
Childhood refractive errors
In some cases, a child can have astigmatism and
nearsightedness (myopia) or farsightedness at the
same time. You will get a vision prescription after
your child’s eye exam (and contact lens fitting, if
contacts are needed) and you can use it to buy glasses
or contacts wherever you’d like.
Myopia is a growing problem among children. It’s
natural for myopia to slowly get a little worse as
10 “hidden” signs your
child may need glasses
people get older, but sometimes it progresses too
quickly. It can lead to a condition called high myopia.
This greatly increases the risk of developing visionthreatening
diseases like retinal detachment, macular
degeneration, cataracts and glaucoma later in life.
By 2050, as many as 1 in every 10 people on
Earth may have high myopia — nearly
four times as many people as in 2015.
Other childhood eye problems
Refractive errors change the
way light registers inside the
eye, but other childhood eye
conditions can affect the way
the eyes move together.
Between 5% and 10%
of school-age children
are thought to have an
eye teaming or focusing
problem.
These conditions include:
- Strabismus – a problem with
the way the eyes are aligned.
Strabismus is often referred to as
“crossed eyes”.
- Amblyopia – also called “lazy eye.” Reduced
vision in one eye.
- Convergence insufficiency – a form of intermittent
exotropia, which is itself a type of strabismus. The
eyes have a hard time working together to focus on
near objects. When a child tries to focus on something
close, one eye turns slightly outward instead of
inward.
Refractive errors and eye teaming or focusing
problems aren’t the only conditions that can affect a
child’s life.
Other common problems include:
- Color blindness: More accurately known as color
vision deficiency, color blindness causes problems
seeing some – but rarely all – colors. There are several
different types of color blindness.
- Vision loss: The most common causes include
injuries, congenital conditions and complications
that stem from other health problems. About 3% of
children under age 18 are either visually impaired or
blind.
Connecting vision with attention and learning
Dra. Maria Isabel Signes-Soler, PhD, FAAO • Tel: 965832080