Eye diseases in children

Most of the information about the surrounding world comes to the human brain through the organs of vision. The eyes are called the part of the brain that is located on the periphery. A person with poor vision becomes incapable of many types of activity, and has difficulties in work and study. Therefore, it is necessary to strive to preserve and improve the child's vision from an early age and to consult an ophthalmologist in a timely manner.

Immediately after birth, the newborn's eyelids are slightly swollen, there may be hemorrhages on them, but this is not a pathology, but a normal variant. The eyes may not be completely closed during sleep. Sometimes the eyelid turns inward, and the eyelashes can scratch the cornea. In another case, there may be eversion of the eyelid (outward), which leads to dryness of the inner lining of the eyelid. This pathology requires consultation and treatment with an ophthalmologist.

The eye color of newborns is gray. Over time (at three to five months), the eye color changes. Sometimes the color of the eyes - right and left - can be different. The width of the eye slit can also be different, and the pupils can have different diameters. All this requires a consultation with an ophthalmologist.

The appearance of purulent or mucous discharge from the child's eyes should alert parents. This may be conjunctivitis (inflammation of the mucous membrane of the eye - conjunctiva) or congenital obstruction of the lacrimal ducts, or inflammation of the lacrimal sac - dacryocystitis.

With dacryocystitis, if you press your finger between the bridge of the nose and the inner edge of the eyelid, a drop of pus will appear, which flows from the inflamed lacrimal sac through the lacrimal punctum in the inner corner of the eye.

To instill drops, use the index finger and thumb of your left hand to spread the upper and lower eyelids and, from the pipette in your right hand, drop one or two drops of medicine into the outer corner of the eye.

For conjunctivitis, use a solution of potassium permanganate (a slightly pink, settled solution), which is injected into the eye slit under pressure from a pipette or syringe in the direction from the outer corner of the eye to the inner one. Then, one or two drops of albucid (sodium sulfacyl) or levomycetin drops are instilled. After this, each eye is wiped with a separate cotton swab in the same direction.

Sometimes parents notice that their child has strabismus. In such cases, it is necessary to show the child to a doctor. However, it should be remembered that children often cannot keep their eyeballs parallel, since they do not yet have the correct fixation of objects with both eyes, which appears only at eight to twelve months.

During the first year of life, every child should be examined by an ophthalmologist. Sometimes children of this age are diagnosed with farsightedness or nearsightedness. When children with farsightedness begin to read, they often have headaches, and such schoolchildren quickly get tired while preparing for homework. It is precisely in children with farsightedness that strabismus often appears at the age of two to four years. With a significant degree of farsightedness, it is necessary to wear glasses, even if it seems that the child sees well without glasses. With nearsightedness, a child sees things that are far away poorly, and close objects well. In order to better distinguish distant objects, he squints. Myopia most often occurs in children of school age.

One of the most common eye injuries in children is trauma. If any liquid gets into the child's eye, it can cause a chemical burn of the eye, so it is necessary to immediately rinse the eye under running water from a tap, from a teapot spout, with a syringe, or with an enema. After rinsing the affected eye for 15 minutes, you must immediately go to an eye clinic. If a foreign body gets into the eye, you must try to remove it yourself. Try to open the child's eye by lowering the lower eyelid. If the foreign body is not visible there, it may be either on the cornea or under the upper eyelid. Unfortunately, without special skills you will not be able to open the upper eyelid, so there is nothing left to do but call an ambulance or go to the eye clinic yourself. In case of blunt eye trauma (being hit by a stone, hitting an object, etc.), even if the damage is not visible, an ophthalmologist consultation is necessary.

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