Pediatric Eye Exams

Pediatric eye exams are an important part of pediatric health care. When are pediatric eye exams performed? How do I prepare for the exam and how does the procedure go? Let’s find out.

As a parent, you may wonder whether your preschooler has a vision problem or when you must arrange your child’s first eye exam. Eye exams for children are incredibly essential, due to the fact that 5 to 10 percent of young children and 25 percent of school-aged children have vision issues. Early identification of a child’s vision issue can be essential since children typically are more responsive to treatment when problems are diagnosed early.

Pediatric Eye Exams Schedule

Inning accordance with the American Optometric Association (AOA), babies should have their first comprehensive eye examination at 6 months of age. Children then need to have extra eye exams at age 3, and right before they go into the first grade — at about age 5 or 6.

For school-aged children, the AOA advises an eye examination every two years if no vision correction is needed. Children who require spectacles or contact lenses should be taken a look at annually or as suggested by their optometrist or ophthalmologist.

Early eye exams likewise are essential since children require the following fundamental skills connected to excellent eyesight for learning:

• Near vision
• Distance vision
• Binocular (two eyes) coordination
• Eye movement abilities
• Focusing abilities
• Peripheral awareness
• Hand-eye coordination

For these reasons, some states need a mandatory eye test for all children entering school for the very first time.

Arranging Eye Exams For Your Child

The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) states on its site that your family physician or pediatrician likely will be the first physician to examine your child’s eyes.

If eye issues are thought during routine physical examinations, a recommendation might be made to an eye doctor for more evaluation. Eye doctors have specific devices and training to help them with finding prospective vision problems.

When setting up an eye examination for your child, pick a time when he or she usually is alert and happy.

Specifics of how eye exams are performed depend on your child’s age, however normally the tests will consist of a medical history, vision testing, determination of whether eyeglasses are needed, screening of eye alignment, an eye health examination and, if required, prescription of eyeglasses.

After you have actually made the visit, you may be sent out a medical history form by mail. Some eye care practices even have types on their site that you can download and print at home, prior to your check out. Or you may not get a type until you sign in at the doctor’s office.

The medical history type will ask about your child’s birth history (also called perinatal history), including birth weight and whether the child was full-term.

Your optometrist also might ask whether complications took place during the pregnancy or delivery. Other questions will concern your child’s case history, consisting of existing medications and past or present allergies.

Be sure to tell your eye doctor if your child has or displays any of the following:

• A history of prematurity
• Delayed motor advancement
• Regular eye rubbing
• Excessive blinking
• Failure to maintain eye contact
• Inability to keep a gaze (fixation) while taking a look at objects
• Poor eye tracking abilities

Also, be sure to point out if your child has actually failed a vision screening at school or during a check out to his or her pediatrician.

Your eye doctor also will wish to know about previous eye problems and treatments your child has had, such as surgeries and glasses or contact lens wear.

And be sure to notify your eye doctor about any family history of eye issues requiring vision correction, such as nearsightedness or farsightedness (refractive errors), lazy eye (strabismus/amblyopia) or eye diseases.

See also: Free Eye Examination (Check-up) for Children and Adults

Eye Exam For Infants

Infants need to be able to see as well as adults in terms of focusing ability, color vision and depth understanding by 6 months of age.

To examine whether your baby’s eyes are establishing normally, the doctor generally will use the following pediatric tests:

• Tests of pupil actions evaluate whether the eye’s pupil opens and closes correctly in the presence or absence of light.
• “Fixate and follow” screening determines whether your baby’s eyes have the ability to focus on and follow an item such as a light as it moves.

Babies need to have the ability to fixate on an object not long after birth and follow a things by the time they are 3 months old.

• Preferential looking includes using cards that are blank on one side with stripes on the other side to attract the gaze of an infant to the stripes. In this method, vision abilities can be assessed without making use of a typical eye chart.

Eye Exam For Preschool Children

Some parents are amazed to learn that preschool-age children do not need to understand their letters in order to undergo particular eye tests, even when they are too young or too shy to verbalize.

Some typical eye tests used particularly for children consist of:

• LEA signs for young children resemble regular eye tests utilizing charts with letters, except that unique symbols in these tests include an apple, house, square and circle.
• Retinoscopy is a test that involves shining a light into the eye to observe the reflection from the back of the eye (retina). This test assists eye doctors identify your child’s eyeglass prescription.
• Random dot stereopsis screening uses special patterns of dots and 3-D glasses to determine how well your child’s eyes collaborate as a group.

In addition to nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism, common vision problems of schoolchildren include:

Lazy eye (amblyopia). Your optometrist will wish to eliminate amblyopia, or “lazy eye,” which is decreased vision in one or both eyes without detectable anatomic damage. Unfortunately, amblyopia is not constantly correctable with eyeglasses or contact lenses and might need eye patching to enhance the weaker eye.

Misalignment of eyes (strabismus). Crossed or crookeded eyes (strabismus) can have different causes, such as issues with muscle control in the impacted eye or eyes. Strabismus is a typical cause of amblyopia and need to be treated early in youth so vision and eye teaming skills can develop normally.

Failure to keep eye positioning when seeing near things (merging deficiency). Eye doctors will examine the ability of eyes to pull inward (merging) and maintain appropriate alignment for comfy reading.

Focusing ability, depth perception and color vision. The eye doctor likewise may test your child’s focusing (lodging) capability. Depth understanding or capability to evaluate distances in between items likewise may be taken a look at, and color blind tests may be used to examine your child’s color vision.

Anterior eye and eyelid health. Your optometrist will carefully analyze your child’s eyelids to try to find unusual or infected eyelash follicles, bumps, eye discharge and swelling (edema). The doctor also will take a look at the cornea, iris, and lens to try to find cloudiness (opacities) or other irregularities.

Vision Screening And Your Child’s Performance In School

Bear in mind that suitable vision testing at an early age is crucial to guarantee your child has the visual skills he or she has to perform well in school.

A child who is unable to see print or see a blackboard can end up being easily annoyed, leading to bad scholastic performance. Some vision issues, such as lazy eye, are best dealt with if they are spotted and remedied as early as possible while the child’s vision system is still developing.

Conclusion

Correct and timely pediatric examination of your child’s eyes will help to draw the right conclusions about his or her vision and correct the pathology, if any, in a timely manner.