Importance of Routine Pediatric Eye Exams

Pediatric eye exams are important to assess children’s eye health and vision. A pediatric optometrist or a pediatric ophthalmologist performs the examination. The eye specialists have the training and expertise to perform a thorough evaluation of a child’s eyes. Experts recommend that children have their first comprehensive exam at six months old. The next should be when the child is three years old, then at five or six before they start first grade.

 

Importance of Pediatric Eye Exams

Routine eye exams for children are very important. They help to ensure that children have healthy eyes and they do not experience vision problems. Some issues can hurt the child’s life. Eye problems can affect your child’s safety and interfere with your child’s social and academic performance. When your child gets eye exams at an early age, it can help with visual skills development. To ensure optimal learning, your child needs excellent visual acuity and accurate eye movement.

 

Infant Eye Testing

It is important to realize that at six months, infants can see just as well as adults. This is true when it comes to color vision, focusing ability, and depth perception. To determine if the development of a baby’s eyes is normal, several tests are carried out.

 

They include testing pupil responses to evaluate opening and closing in the absence or presence of light. “Fixate and follow” testing is done to determine the infant’s ability to fixate on and follow objects. There is also preferential looking that involves the use of images or picture cards.

 

Specifics of Eye Exams

How the eye exams are conducted will depend on different factors. The child’s age is an important consideration factor. School-age children should have eye exams every two years if they don’t need vision correction. For kids who need glasses or contacts, annual exams are necessary.

 

Some kids may need more if the eye doctor recommends it. Eye testing will usually involve a case history, vision testing, and testing of eye health and alignment. The exam will determine whether the child needs eyeglasses.

 

Identifying Vision Problems

Routine pediatric exams will help to determine whether a child has any number of vision problems. When identified early, vision problems such as amblyopia or “lazy eye” can be corrected. This condition occurs when one eye is weaker than the other.

 

Eye patching can be used to strengthen the weak eye. Misaligned or crossed eyes can be identified or diagnosed from the exam. Other vision problems include convergence insufficiency, focusing problems, color blindness, and poor depth perception.

 

Eye Health Problems

The eye doctor examines the child’s eyes to look for health problems. An examination of the eyelids can reveal issues like edema or swelling, infected or abnormal eyelash follicles, and eye discharge. Examination of the iris, cornea, and lens will help to look for irregularities such as cloudiness. When caught early, these eye health problems can be easily treated.

 

During the pediatric eye exams, the doctor will want to know about any complications that may have occurred during pregnancy. Other important information includes any medications that the child may be taking. Information on the present or past allergies is also relevant.

 

Learn more about the importance of routine pediatric eye exams, contact Pinnacle Eye Group of Lambertville in Lambertville, MI at (734) 562-0099.