What is Paediatric Ophthalmology?

Paediatric ophthalmology is a subspecialty of ophthalmology that concentrates on treating the various eye problems affecting children. Studies show that a lot of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and learning issues in children can be attributed to vision problems.

Research shows that 1 out of 6 kids has vision related issues.Some of the most common issues affecting the little ones include:

• Squint
• Drooping of upper eyelids
• Lazy eye
• Refractive-errors

Eye diseases in newborns include:

• Congenital glaucoma
• Cataract
• Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP)

It is essential to address and rectify the issues in newborns as soon as possible. If not treated within the first six months of the childs birth, theres a good possibility that the child gets visually impaired for the rest of his/her life. The reason being, the optic nerve connecting the eyes to the brain is still developing and if any prevalent disease is not treated on time, there could be a permanent disconnect between the eyes and brain, eventually leading to total blindness.

As a parent one should take their child in routine for a comprehensive eye check.While problems like squint or drooping of eyelids can be easily noticed, finding issues related to lazy eye & refractive errors could be quite a challenge to the parents. Since most of the children do not report the problems to their parents for often hence they can lack the ability to understand that theres been a change in their vision.

The behavioral pattern like watching TV from a close distance or excessively straining to read from a book or performing badly at school all of a sudden can be symptoms of vision illness and which should be immediately considered for a doctor visit.