Strabismus is one of the most common and dangerous diseases in childhood. It can lead to the loss of binocular vision (vision with both eyes), which is formed by the age of 5-6, without which the correct ratio of surrounding objects in space is impossible. At the same time, the whole world is perceived in a distorted, incorrect form. Strabismus usually develops in the first three years of life and is often accompanied by a decrease in visual acuity.
Instructions
Step 1
There are more than twenty types of strabismus, each of which requires an individual approach to treatment. Often, this disease in a child is caused by a malfunction of one of the eyes. Therefore, children are advised to wear a special bandage that will cover the strong eye. Get it as early as possible and use it daily. Eliminate the possibility of peeping through the blindfold with your healthy eye. Otherwise, the whole procedure will be meaningless.
Step 2
From about one and a half years, ophthalmologists prescribe glasses for children to wear regularly. They are usually recommended for hyperopia and myopia. To be included in the active work of the squinting eye, the healthy eye is also covered with a special shutter. This procedure takes several months. During this time, you need to train the sore eye. Encourage your child to do embroidery, painting, mosaics, and other activities that stimulate vision. However, more often with strabismus, one use of glasses is an insufficient action. Therefore, conservative treatment is carried out using hardware methods. Such methods of struggle are aimed at stimulating the child's ability to merge images from both eyes into a single visual image.
Step 3
At a certain stage in the treatment of pediatric strabismus, if indicated, it is necessary to perform surgical intervention. Its duration depends on visual acuity. But usually the operation is recommended to be done at the age of 3 to 5 years, when the baby has already mastered the exercises for combining and merging images and objects. Its essence lies in shortening or lengthening the eye muscles. With severe deviations from the norm, you may need not one, but several surgical interventions. Even successfully performed operations cannot guarantee complete restoration of binocular vision. Therefore, continue with comprehensive strabismus treatment and muscle-training exercises.
Step 4
Some types of strabismus (for example, those with small and inconsistent angles) are difficult to operate. Nowadays, new technologies are being used to carry out the operation without the use of cutting objects (scissors, laser beams or a scalpel). They provide bloodless exposure of the surgical field. In more severe forms of strabismus (when the eye squints up or down) and surgery, it is not always possible to restore full binocular vision. Such methods of treatment can eliminate only an external defect in appearance.
