If I find that my child has astigmatism, is it necessary to give him glasses?

Many children were brought to the clinic for examination by their parents because they were found to have astigmatism during the kindergarten physical examination. Many parents also asked the hearing aid fitter, "My child has astigmatism, does he need to wear glasses?" The answer from the hearing aid fitter is: not necessarily, it depends on the specific situation!

Myopia occurs when parallel light enters the eye through the pupil and focuses in front of the retina, resulting in clear near vision but blurry far vision. Hyperopia occurs when parallel light enters the eye through the pupil and focuses behind the retina, resulting in visual impairment, with neither near nor far vision being clear.

Astigmatism is when parallel light rays cannot focus normally on one point after entering the eyeball, and cannot form a clear image. Even if the target object moves, it cannot be clearly imaged, and you need to wear astigmatism glasses to see it clearly.

What are the effects of excessive astigmatism?

1. Affects the development of the visual cortex and causes amblyopia. Studies have found that astigmatism of 150 degrees or more along the rule and against the rule, and oblique astigmatism of 100 degrees or more, are associated with the risk of amblyopia. As the degree of astigmatism increases, the probability of amblyopia increases. If the astigmatism is above 250 degrees, the probability of amblyopia is very high, whether along the rule, against the rule, or oblique.

2. Affect naked eye vision. The essence of astigmatism is also a kind of refractive error, so when the astigmatism reaches a certain degree, it will affect vision. However, the impact of astigmatism on vision is not only in the degree, but also has a lot to do with the axis.

3. Affect binocular vision. We humans are binocular vision animals, so in childhood, in addition to vision, the development of binocular tertiary vision is also very important. The development of normal binocular tertiary vision requires the following basic conditions: the clarity, size, and color of the images seen by both eyes are similar. If the amount of astigmatism between the two eyes is very different, or there is a large difference in the axis, it will cause the clarity of the images seen by both eyes to deviate, and our brain will find it difficult to fuse. In the end, monocular suppression or even strabismus may occur.

4. Visual fatigue, headache, eye discomfort, etc. Studies have found that among people with visual fatigue and headache, the proportion of patients with astigmatism is very high. Scientists speculate that this may also be closely related to the special blurred vision caused by astigmatism. At the same time, some people have found that some children will tilt their heads and squint because of astigmatism.

Does a child need immediate intervention if he or she is found to have astigmatism?

Astigmatism is the same as myopia. Except for refractive surgery (laser or lens implantation) in adulthood, there is no way to cure astigmatism. The current conventional medical intervention for excessive astigmatism is to wear frame glasses or corneal contact lenses.

A basic condition for judging whether children need to wear astigmatism glasses is to see whether the astigmatism affects naked eye vision, whether there is a risk of causing amblyopia, and whether it causes abnormal development of binocular vision function. Therefore, when considering whether to give children glasses, we cannot simply cut it off based on the degree, but also consider the child's naked eye vision, binocular vision function and other humanistic psychological factors.

Zhou Chao, a member of the Medical Technician Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, a national first-level (senior) optometrist, and director of the optometry center of the Aier Eye Hospital affiliated to Wuhan University (Aier Eye Hospital Group Hubei General Hospital), said: If the astigmatism is less than 100 degrees, and the naked eye vision is normal, there is no problem of visual fatigue and visual interference, then there is no need to wear glasses. If the astigmatism is more than 100 degrees, it will generally affect the naked eye vision and easily cause visual fatigue and even affect the visual function. It is recommended to wear glasses for correction.

Director Zhou Chao reminds: If you find that your child has astigmatism, take him to a regular professional ophthalmic medical institution for relevant examinations as soon as possible, and do further treatment based on the advice of professionals. Avoid excessive intervention due to anxiety.