Is your child's temperament changing? It may be related to strabismus

When you notice

The child doesn't like to talk

I like to play alone

I usually keep my head down.

This may not just be a psychological issue.

It could be an eye problem.

Xiaoye (pseudonym), 6 years old this year, just started first grade. After entering primary school, Xiaoye's mother found that her child became withdrawn and quiet. He also liked to lower his head in class, and his grades were not very ideal. She thought that the child was not adapting to the new environment, but one day after school, she accidentally heard a classmate nicknamed the child "Little Slant Eyes". Xiaoye's mother immediately took him to the Aier Eye Hospital affiliated to Wuhan University. After examination, Xiaoye was diagnosed with strabismus. It turned out that the child's personality change was caused by strabismus.

Before the age of 6, Xiaoye always liked to tilt his head to look at things, and one of his eyes was slightly tilted outward. His parents thought that the child was young and did not need to pay too much attention to it. They did not expect that the child would develop an inferiority complex. Now they realize the seriousness of the problem. "I didn't pay attention to it at the time. If I had come to the hospital earlier, it would have been fine!" Xiaoye's mother regretted it very much.

Cai Chunyan, doctoral student, associate chief physician, master's supervisor, deputy group leader of the Strabismus and Pediatric Ophthalmology Group in Hubei Province of Aier Eye Hospital Group, and deputy director of the Strabismus and Pediatric Ophthalmology Department, said: When children show symptoms such as tilting their head and squinting when looking at things, parents should take their children to an ophthalmology hospital for examination in time to let the doctor determine whether they have strabismus and actively take appropriate treatment and intervention methods to avoid irreparable harm.

Daily manifestations of strabismus

1. Children like to tilt their heads to look at things.

2. I like to close one eye when looking at things.

3. The position of the two eyes seems asymmetrical or the eye movements seem uncoordinated.

4. I often fall over when walking and always fail to take the right step when going up the stairs.

5. Frequent rubbing of eyes and eye discomfort.

The dangers of strabismus

1. Strabismus in childhood can easily cause amblyopia and visual impairment in children. Without fusion and stereoscopic vision, many jobs will be limited, such as driving, drawing and other fine work.

2. The abnormal appearance caused by strabismus affects the child's mental health. Strabismus seriously affects the appearance, easily causing the child to become withdrawn and feel inferior, and affecting normal learning and social interaction.

3. Some strabismus affects the development of bones throughout the body. For example, patients with partial paralytic strabismus often use special head positions such as tilting the head and turning the face sideways to overcome the discomfort when seeing things. If not treated early, it will lead to skeletal deformities throughout the body, such as scoliosis.

Treatment of strabismus

1. Surgical treatment

Surgical treatment is to adjust the strength of the external eye muscles and the position of the attachment points through surgery to make the eye position tend to normal. For patients with congenital esotropia, up and down strabismus, non-adjustable strabismus with large strabismus, the best way to treat strabismus is strabismus surgery.

2. Non-surgical treatment

Not all strabismus require surgical treatment. For fully accommodative esotropia, it can be corrected by wearing appropriate hyperopic glasses or bifocals. If there are also refractive errors such as myopia or astigmatism, glasses are often required for correction. In addition, axis correction training can be used to help restore the single vision of both eyes and increase the ability of fusion. For example, training with a visual axis correction training machine or wearing prism lenses.

Dai Hongbin, chief physician, member of the Standing Committee of the Ophthalmology Committee of Hubei Provincial Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and director of the Strabismus and Pediatric Ophthalmology Department of Wuhan University Aier Eye Hospital, reminded that strabismus not only affects appearance, but also visual function, and in severe cases, it may even cause abnormal bone development, so parents should pay attention to it. Due to the different types and degrees of strabismus, if you have symptoms, you can go to the Strabismus and Pediatric Ophthalmology Department of Wuhan University Aier Eye Hospital to confirm the specific treatment method after examination by the doctor.