Treatment of strabismus in children

Strabismus is quite common among eye diseases in childhood. It can appear for up to a year, but most often it is noted in children from 2-3 years. The earlier the problem is discovered and the treatment is started, the sooner its results will appear, and there will be more chances for normal vision in the child. In adulthood, the treatment of strabismus is more difficult, the hope for full-fledged healing is not always there.

The choice of the method for treating strabismus in children depends on the reasons that caused it. It can be congenital or acquired. In the first case, a fatal role can play too fast delivery, prematurity, birth trauma, heredity. In the second - it's diseases of the nervous system, trauma.

The eye of the child is formed before the age of four, and therefore until this time do not resort to surgical intervention. But in the period from 4 to 6 years you need to have time to treat strabismus so that by the beginning of the first class the child could communicate normally with peers and successfully learn. Small children are given a normal operation, and after 18 years laser correction is possible.

Treatment of strabismus in children is possible at home after consultation with an ophthalmologist. There are several methods for this. Here are some of them:

• with the help of a burning light bulb. Before it is placed a ball about 8 mm in diameter. The child should, not looking up to look with a sick eye at the ball. So do three visits. The course of treatment is 1 month;
• Exercises for the treatment of strabismus in children with figurines on paper. The sheet is divided into cells and each one is entered by simple figures in a different order, but in some places they are duplicated, and the child's goal is to find them and delete them;
• gymnastics for the eyes are held for 20 minutes in several stages so that the total time of training was about one and a half hours.

Hardware treatment of strabismus in children

This method is used in parallel with charging and exercises for the eyes. For this, for some time (treatment course), the child needs to be in a hospital of an ophthalmological clinic, which has various apparatuses for the treatment of strabismus.

This treatment is divided into 2 groups.

The first group is pleoptical treatment, which is aimed at treating amblyopia (deterioration of the sight of the mowing eye). These include:

• pattern-stimulation;
• laser stimulation of the retina (not to be confused with laser surgery);
• stimulation with a magnet for better blood supply;
• stimulation by alternating currents.

The second group is orthopedic treatment:

• glasses with liquid crystal glass;
• binarimetry;
• computer binarimetry;
• accommodation training.

Operative treatment of strabismus in children

The operation is carried out to children after four years. Depending on the type of strabismus, surgical correction may be amplifying (with weak muscles supporting the eyeball), or weakening (a strong pulling muscle is transplanted farther from the cornea and a decrease in its tension allows the eye to align its axis).

After the operation under local anesthesia, additional therapy is performed, the purpose of which is to teach the eye to look correctly.

Laser treatment of strabismus in children is not performed until the child reaches 18 years of age.