Strabismus is an arrangement of the eyes in which the visual axes do not converge on one subject (do not focus) when the child looks at it. The medical name of this disease is strabismus, or, more simply, "lazy eyes". This disease manifests itself not only externally, it also affects the information through the visual system, in addition: the muscles of the eyes are weakened, the visual acuity is reduced, and the child can not perceive the whole picture. This disease can be congenital and acquired, most often, it develops in children aged 1 to 3 years, but this disease can occur even at 6 years. Medicine knows several main causes of this ailment:
- Predisposition (strabismus in a child is inherited when the family had relatives with the disease (note: not only parents, but also uncles, aunts, grandmothers);
- Presence of eye defect in the child (for example: hyperopia, myopia, astigmatism);
- The various poisoning that the mother received during pregnancy can also cause;
- Serious infectious diseases, such as scarlet fever, diphtheria, etc.;
- Physical and mental trauma received in the early years of life;
- Constant elevated intracranial pressure;
- Various kinds of genetic diseases.
The opinion of doctors that strabismus before six years may pass is not entirely true. If you do not start to solve this problem, only when you suspected the presence of this disease, it will only worsen the health of the baby. There is such a thing as imaginary strabismus, that is, it is a visual deception that occurs due to the wide bridge of the newborn, because the baby's eyes are low enough, and the nose looks broad. Over time, the facial skeleton of the child begins to form, and, therefore, the distance between the eyes increases, and the width of the nose bridge in turn decreases. A very common method of treatment are gluing on glasses when the healthy eye closes and the main load goes to the sick eye, sending stronger signals to the brain through the nerve endings to this organ of vision. Thus, with time vision begins to improve, but this technique should be resorted only at an early stage. There is a technique of so-called concentration on one subject, that is, the kid lies motionless (note: it's best that they do not let him move and spin, and before his eyes show the toy so that he can focus both eyes on one object, and immobility in this case will not allow him to rotate the neck and head, which means that both eyes will be aimed at one object. "This kind of eye training can restore the work of weakened eye muscles and restore visual acuity." In addition, for older children, there are a few more todov treatment of strabismus:
- Lifting the arm up, stretching the index finger and gradually approaching it to the nose;
- The so-called writing of the figure-eight by the eyes, that is, circular movements with the eyes up and down, left and right;
- If the child is sitting for a long time behind a book or TV, you need to look away and look at distant objects outside the window, then return the look and look at what is next;
- It is useful to play ball games: tennis, football, volleyball. The main charm of these games is that the eyes of the child can watch the object, which, then it is removed, it approaches.
In order to avoid the occurrence of this disease, you must follow certain rules that will help to keep your children's eyesight in perfect order.
- If your baby is diagnosed with hyperopia, do not buy small toys for him, since he will treat them too close to his eyes, which can lead to strabismus. All rattles, toys, garlands in a bed and a stroller must be hung at arm's length. In addition, when such a toy is constantly hanging over the crib, try not to hang it from the side, the kid should easily see it with both eyes. Also, do not suddenly and abruptly appear with any bright object near the baby, when it is not even a year, it can also lead to excessive relaxation of the eye muscles, and later to strabismus and can easily frighten.
- Do not allow children to watch television if they are not 3 years old. When he becomes older, allow to watch TV only in a sitting position, at the age of 3-4 years it is recommended to spend at the blue screen no more than 15 minutes a day.
- Read and write your child should be taught no earlier than 4 years. It is recommended that children be sent to school at the age of 7, but not at 6. At the age of six, the child still has to strain his eye muscles, which can lead to disastrous results. At 7 years old the child can already see well near and his eye muscles acquire the necessary strength.
- It is very important to monitor your child's posture. You can not let a kid, drawing, bending over an album or, curled up in three deaths, read a book. If the child sees badly and wears glasses, then all the more you can not let him read lying down or sit, bending over a book - this will only worsen the existing visual deviations.
- Earlier acquaintance with the computer can be even more dangerous for children's vision in comparison with the TV. The optimal age for working with a computer is 8 years. As it was mentioned before, before 7 years it is difficult for a child to consider small pictures and also images on the screen, because such a strong strain of the eye muscles can develop such diseases of the eye as strabismus, myopia, etc.
As we have time to find out, the child's strabismus is a disease that can not pass by itself, it requires immediate treatment and most often, it is successful.
The most important thing is not to allow your children to overexert their eyes. You also need to remember that many infectious diseases affect negatively the vision of your children. If the baby is sick, try to pay special attention to his eyes so that the infection can not harm his vision. And most importantly - this is a regular eye examination from the oculist. Only with their help can you prevent, diagnose and cure various diseases of the eye organs. Do not delay this visit to the doctor and hope that everything will pass by itself. Timely diagnosis of visual problems will allow your child to live a full life and see it in all bright colors. Do not forget to take into account the child's opinion about his visual perception of objects!