An 8-year-old girl can’t see clearly at near or far distance. The doctor said: It’s not myopia, but hyperopia. There is something wrong with the ciliary muscle!

An 8-year-old girl had trouble seeing both near and far objects, and examination revealed a problem with her ciliary muscle due to hyperopia.

At the beginning of September last year, 8-year-old Xiaoyu (pseudonym) could not see the blackboard clearly while sitting in the second row. After returning home and telling her parents, her parents thought she was nearsighted and took her to the hospital for examination. The results showed that Xiaoyu's right eye vision was 0.2 and left eye vision was 0.15. During the comprehensive eye examination, no matter how the lens power was increased, Xiaoyu said she could not see clearly.

Later, Xiaoyu came to the Aier Eye Hospital affiliated to Wuhan University. Huang Ling, deputy chief physician of strabismus and pediatric ophthalmology, saw her. After a detailed examination, it was found that Xiaoyu was not nearsighted, and her vision improved after using ciliary muscle paralysis optometry (commonly known as mydriasis optometry). However, after the effect of mydriasis disappeared, her vision deteriorated again and she could not see the blackboard clearly again.

After examination and analysis, Director Huang Ling determined that Xiaoyu had a problem with her ciliary muscles and had "accommodative spasm". "The ciliary muscle is a circular smooth muscle located inside the eye. Its function is to help us focus on distant and near objects by adjusting the curvature of the lens, that is, adjusting the focal length. If the ciliary muscle is too tense and cannot relax, it will be like being tied up with a rope, which will cause unclear vision at both near and far." Director Huang Ling explained that in the current patient's condition, it is recommended to use atropine plus visual function training and do more outdoor sports.

By using atropine to relax the ciliary muscles and doing targeted visual function training, Xiaoyu came to the hospital for a follow-up examination the day before yesterday, and her vision in both eyes had recovered to 1.0.

Cai Chunyan, deputy chief physician of strabismus and pediatric ophthalmology at Aier Eye Hospital affiliated to Wuhan University, said that the regulation of ciliary muscle is like a "spring". If the eyes are overused and the "spring" of ciliary muscle is stretched too tight, it will be in a state of high tension and continuous contraction, and the elasticity of the "spring" will deteriorate. When we use our eyes at close range for a long time, such as reading a book or looking at a computer screen, excessive and inappropriate contraction of the ciliary muscle will cause spasm of the ciliary muscle and abnormal regulation function. She suggested that young people and children should increase outdoor activities, preferably not less than 2 hours a day and not less than 10 hours a week, to effectively prevent myopia. Outdoor activities are not limited to sports, but also walking, picnics, reading under the shade of trees, etc. Outdoor activities can effectively relieve visual fatigue, prevent myopia, and help myopic patients prevent further development of myopia.