From the age of 2-3 years, the child starts to talk and, with good contact with the doctor, can name the pictures on the vision chart. This gives a picture of subjective
refraction and visual acuity without correction and with correction.
Children whose parents are short-sighted need more frequent monitoring (on average every 6 months) so as not to miss early signs of myopia or the actual onset of myopia. The younger the age of the child at the first complaints of decreased distance vision, the worse the prognosis for the progression of the process.
The classic portrait of the myopia candidate is the child who leads a sedentary lifestyle, spends little time outdoors, but has a large and prolonged visual load for near vision. The colossal role of sunlight for the correct formation of refraction, functioning of the accommodation apparatus, maintenance of vitamin D and dopamine levels, as well as for saturation of tissues with oxygen is proven.
Timely and appropriate correction allows maintaining visual acuity at a maximum level, avoiding strabismus (divergent strabismus is characteristic for myopia). However, nowadays, it is not only the correction of myopia that is important, but also the stabilization of the progression, i.e. the increase in length of the eyeball. Each diopter of progression increases several times the risk of developing retinal dystrophies, central zone pathology in later life, as well as complicated cataracts and glaucoma. Myopia control is provided by specially designed glasses, as well as specially configured day and night lenses, which can be chosen for you by our center’s certified specialists.
Children with farsightedness, weakness of accommodation and inability of the eye to cope with the near task also require correction with glasses or contact lenses to maintain visual acuity and correct eye position. The problem is that when visual acuity falls below 40%, the eye muscles become unbalanced and the eyeball is excluded by the nervous system from the vision process, strabismus develops, with hyperopia being characterized by convergent strabismus. In addition, the age up to 9 years is crucial in the sense that, in the case of various refractive abnormalities, if the child does not receive correction and the visual acuity is below 100%, the nerve pathways between the eye and the brain are formed so that this low visual acuity becomes the “norm” for the eye and its correction becomes impossible. It’s important to have annual prophylactic check-ups with an ophthalmologist to make sure your child’s vision is safe.
