Vision is by many people the most important sense and our brain starts receiving images through our eyes from the day we are born. That’s why a child’s eye exam is considered mandatory, find all you need to know below.
His/her first eye exam.
The first child’s eye exam should be done at the maternity hospital by a pediatric ophthalmologist. The ophthalmologist first overviews the eye and then visualizes the retina by performing ophthalmoscopy.
Ophthalmoscopy is used to detect and evaluate symptoms of various retinal vascular diseases or congenital conditions such as congenital glaucoma, congenital cataract etc.
Time for a second evaluation.
If no abnormalities were detected during the first eye exam, the second one should be performed at the age of 12 months.
The ophthalmologist checks the eye-movements and specifically for the presence or absence of strabismus. Strabismus is a condition that can result due to muscle dysfunction. If the child has strabismus then should be treated according to the type and the underlying cause of strabismus.
After the eye-movement evaluation, the ophthalmologist performs retinoscopy. Retinoscopy is a technique in which the doctor obtains an objective measurement of the refractive error of a child’s eyes.
In other words, we can safely detect the presence of a refractive disorder (myopia, hypermetropia and astigmatism).
About the third eye exam.
If no abnormalities were detected in the second examination, then a review every two years is sufficient.
Related question: A 14 monhts old infant presents in your shift with a monocular vertical nystagmus. What is your first action?
Leave a comment