When is the best time to consult an eye specialist for your child?
We all want our children to have a good beginning in everything in their lives. Be it choosing a good school, taking care of their health, to learn good manners or taking care of their eyes. Your babies are precious and so are their eyes. So, taking a good care of their eyes is very important from an early stage. Don’t delay eye tests for young infants and children because some early eye problems can affect their vision.But the important question is when to have your child’s eyes checked?
It is recommended that a comprehensive eye exam must be done by an eye care professional, if possible by age 1. It needs to be repeated before your child goes to school. Though, paediatrician examines your child’s eyes, just after birth, but it’s always better to get it checked by specialist eye doctors, because eye problems can be resolved if treated early.
These exams become very crucial to children who:
- Have a sibling or a parent with a major eye problem, such as crossed or turned eye(s) (strabismus) or lazy eye (amblyopia).
- Have an eye problem detected by the paediatrician.
- Parents suspect of some eye problem
Undiagnosed abnormalities in eyes during early stagecan lead to vision loss.
Crossed eyes: It involves one or both eyes turning inward or outward. This can be treated with a special eyewear or an eye patch.
Lazy Eye: Kids suffering from this problem have one eye weaker than the other. A common problem among infants and children, this can be treated, if detected early with eye drops, eye glasses or using an eye patch.
So how would you know there’s a problem in your child’ eyes or your child needs to see a doctor?
These four key tips wouldensure that your child has the best eye care from the start.
- Don’t wait for school
If you have any doubts about your child’s vision, visit an eye specialist and go for an eye exam. It’s better to have an eye check-up before your little one heads for kindergarten or play school, instead of elementary or prep. school.
- Check your family history
It’s often seen that a child having a vision problems comes from a family whose one of the parents, siblings, or someone from the family suffers from an acute eye problem. So, it’s best to monitor and check early. If you find any disturbances get it checked.
- Consult an eye specialist
An eye specialist can detect and pin point your child’s eye problems, if any. He can well understand even if your baby hasn’t learnt how to talk or is not familiar with alphabets.
We, at The Retina Centre in the heart of Assam – at Guwahati offer sophisticated and comprehensive eye care diagnoses and treatment for you as well as your child. Our specialized and experienced eye doctors backed by advanced technology provide world-class treatment along with high-quality diagnostic imaging & fast reports to you, in a home like atmosphere.