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Pediatric Eye Care

Vision develops rapidly starting at birth and is tied to many developmental milestones, such as hand-eye coordination and reading. While there may be some obvious signs of visual disorders, many vision problems may remain undetected without the assistance of an optometrist. Dr. Murzynski specializes in pediatric eye care and is always accepting new patients.

Is your child having trouble seeing?

Some symptoms are more obvious, like squinting or holding reading materials very close. But often the early signs are subtle and can even be misdiagnosed.

Your child may be experiencing a vision problem if he or she does any of the following:

  • Avoids reading and close-up work like coloring or doing puzzles
  • Seems to work slow or not understand the task
  • Complains of fatigue or headaches
  • Has a short attention span or seems distracted
  • Covers one eye or tilts head when focusing on something
  • Shows sensitivity to light
  • Exhibits difficulty with coordination

Common eye disorders in children

Strabismus (“Crossed Eyes”) is when the eyes do not align properly.

Amblyopia (“Lazy Eye”) is when poor vision in one eye results in the stronger eye remaining focus while the weaker eye drifts. It usually occurs before the age of eight. Infants born prematurely or with low birth weight are at greater risk.

Refractive errors cause blurry images due to the shape of the eyeball or lens. These common conditions are easily treated with glasses or contact lenses. There are three types of refractive errors:

  • Myopia or nearsightedness is good close vision but poor distance vision.
  • Hyperopia or farsightedness is poor up-close vision. Distant objects can easily be seen.
  • Astigmatism is imperfect vision at any distance.

Myopia Control

Myopia (nearsightedness) typically starts to develop in childhood and often progresses until about age 20.  Slowing the progression is important because it may reduce the risk of developing serious eye conditions later in life such as cataracts, glaucoma, retinal detachment, and blindness.

The main approaches to controlling myopia include:

Multifocal contacts lenses

Multifocal contact lenses are special contacts that have different powers in different zones of the lens.  Researchers and eye doctors have found that multifocal soft contact lenses are also effective tools for myopia control in children.  Some research demonstrates that using soft multifocal lenses in children caused a 25-50% reduction in progression over 2 years.

Atropine eye drops

Topical atropine is a medicine used to dilate the pupil and temporarily relax the eye’s focusing mechanism and has been used in myopia control for years.  Several studies show that low-dose atropine helps to reduce the progression of myopia in children, especially when combined with Ortho-K lenses.

Orthokeratology (Ortho-K)

Ortho-k — also known as Corneal Refractive Therapy (CRT) or “corneal reshaping lenses” — is a non-surgical approach that helps to reshape the curvature of your child’s cornea using specially designed gas-permeable contact lenses.  Ortho-K contact lenses are only worn during sleep at night and are used to temporarily correct mild to moderate myopia symptoms.  Evidence suggests that nearsighted children who undergo several years of orthokeratology may end up with less myopia as adults.