What should I do if my child always tilts his head and squints his eyes? It may be caused by strabismus

Many parents find that their baby has strabismus.

I always think it would be better if I grow up a little bit

Little did I know that when I grew up

Maybe you missed the opportunity for treatment.

Therefore, parents must pay attention to their baby's strabismus

Tuantuan (pseudonym), who is one and a half years old, is chubby and very cute, but anyone who sees Tuantuan for the first time can clearly see that Tuantuan’s eyes are “a little special”.

"The child was diagnosed with infantile esotropia since childhood, and there are obvious problems with both eyes when looking at things." But Tuantuan's grandmother said, "When the child grows up, the strabismus may naturally get better. The child is still so young, and it would be too painful if surgery is needed." Tuantuan's parents were still worried, so they took the child to the strabismus and pediatric ophthalmology department of the Aier Eye Hospital affiliated to Wuhan University for examination. After the examination, the doctor said that Tuantuan needed surgical treatment. After listening to the concerns of Tuantuan's family, the doctor firmly said: Baby strabismus treatment should be started as early as possible. If it is treated in adulthood, it will be too late!

Cai Chunyan, associate chief physician, master's supervisor, deputy leader of the Strabismus and Pediatric Ophthalmology Group of Aier Eye Hospital Group in Hubei Province, and deputy director of Strabismus and Pediatric Ophthalmology of Aier Eye Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University, reminds : Strabismus should be detected and treated early, and go to the hospital as soon as possible to avoid missing the opportunity for treatment and causing irreparable damage to the child's eye health.

Will children's strabismus get better naturally as they grow older?

"When the child grows up, strabismus may get better naturally." Many parents have the idea of ​​waiting and seeing when it comes to strabismus, but in fact this idea is not feasible.

Strabismus not only affects the appearance of children, but more importantly, it may cause irreversible damage to children's vision and binocular vision. Children's vision develops slowly from birth, and this process is very long. If a child has strabismus and is not treated in time during the critical period of visual development, especially if one eye is in a slanted position for a long time and cannot receive external visual stimulation and "does not work" for a long time, it will cause the baby's vision to not develop normally, which is what we call "strabismic amblyopia". If you wait until adulthood to treat it, even if you have strabismus surgery, it can only improve the appearance, but it is difficult to improve vision.

At the same time, strabismus will also affect the baby's binocular vision function, which is what we call stereoscopic vision. For example, when we watch 3D movies, if we don't have binocular vision, what we see is a flat surface instead of a three-dimensional one. In life, it is also reflected in judging the distance of objects, fine operations, etc. Therefore, if a baby has strabismus and is not treated in time, it may have certain restrictions on the choice of study and profession. For example, pilots, surgeons and many other jobs that require fine movements will not be able to do it.

Dai Hongbin, chief physician, member of the Standing Committee of the Ophthalmology Committee of the Hubei Provincial Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and director of the Strabismus and Pediatric Ophthalmology Department of the Aier Eye Hospital affiliated to Wuhan University, said: Strabismus is a common eye disease in children, with a prevalence of 1-3%. For babies with infantile strabismus at the age of 1-2, surgery is beneficial to the development of vision and the recovery of binocular vision function. Babies with acquired strabismus also need to come to the hospital for further examination, and choose the appropriate treatment plan based on the examination results. The Strabismus and Pediatric Ophthalmology Department of the Aier Eye Hospital affiliated to Wuhan University has opened a strabismus and amblyopia clinic to provide diagnosis and treatment services for children with strabismus and amblyopia.

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Aier Eye Hospital, Aier Eye Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University (Wuhan Aier Eye Hospital) now has 30 ophthalmology clinics, including dry eye clinic, high myopia clinic, floaters clinic, maculopathy clinic, diabetic eye disease clinic, pediatric tear duct clinic, ptosis and repair clinic, myopia prevention and control clinic, and refractory glaucoma clinic, implementing precision medicine and specialized treatment for specialized diseases. The hospital also has a special clinic for famous doctors, and invites nationally renowned ophthalmologists to sit regularly to provide diagnosis and treatment solutions for patients with difficult eye diseases. Weekend expert clinics and night clinics are also "open all the time" to fully guarantee the medical needs of the majority of patients.