Pediatric Eye Care: How Naper Grove Vision Care Optometrists Can Help Your Child
Most children aren’t thrilled about going for pediatric eye care, whether for a checkup or an illness. They’re usually not crazy about seeing medical specialists like eye doctors either.
However, regular eye exams are important for your kids. Vision is a crucial part of learning and development, and if your child is struggling with vision problems, it could make reading, writing, and playing sports more difficult.
According to Naper Grove Vision Care’s Downers Grove optometrist, it is common for children to have difficulty describing vision problems. With pediatric eye care, an optometrist can help your child by checking for eye issues and providing treatment plans.
How to Tell If Your Child Is Experiencing Vision Problems
While a visit to your pediatrician usually includes an eye exam, it’s less comprehensive than what an eye doctor provides. Your child must have access to the best pediatric eye care. Even if the eye test during their checkup is without incident, you should take your child to an optometrist if you notice any of the following behaviors:
👁️Squinting
If you or your child’s teachers notice your child squinting when reading something at a distance, they likely need help with their vision. They may also tilt their head to the side or rub their eyes as they attempt to see better.
It is common for them to start avoiding things they enjoy, like reading, because blurry vision makes it harder for them. They may even move things closer to them or sit closer to the TV or computer screen.
👁️Coordination Issues
Blurry vision can trip your child up when walking or performing other tasks. They may fall over objects that they can’t see or have trouble gauging distance. While you may be inclined to think they’re clumsy, corrective lenses may be the solution to their problems.
👁️Difficulty Recognizing Colors or Shapes
When children who know their colors and shapes have trouble recognizing them, it is a sign that they are having vision problems. You should make an appointment with an optometrist as soon as possible to have their eyes checked.
How Can an Optometrist Help My Child with Vision Problems?
Vision problems do not have to be a problem for your child. The key thing to remember is to get them to an optometrist for a proper eye exam. An optometrist will assess their eyesight, diagnose any vision problems, and create a treatment plan, a key section of pediatric eye care.
Eyeglasses or contact lenses are commonly prescribed because they can help improve your child’s vision. If they are experiencing headaches from eye strain, they will no longer have that symptom when they start using corrective lenses.
Vision therapy is another option that can help children who have crossed eyes, lazy eyes, or other vision issues. It is non-invasive, which means it will not cause pain or discomfort for your child.
Pediatric Eye Care: The Roles And Responsibilities Of A Care Optometrists
Different studies have projected that the problems of vision among kids are increasing at an alarming rate. This requires intervention at the earliest and the concerned people who are linked with eye care must be active with policies so that the children receive quality treatment. However, this section discusses some of a care optometrist’s key roles and responsibilities.
👁️Diagnostic And Treatment
The first step to comprehensive pediatric eye care is diagnostics and treatment. It is the experts’ primary role. Firstly, these professionals conduct comprehensive checkups of eye conditions like muscular degeneration, glaucoma, cataracts, refractive errors, and others. The care optometrist’s role is to provide their care users with the most updated eye status.
👁️Prescription Guidance
Pediatric eye care is invalid without proper prescription guidance. The glasses contact lenses and help correct refractive errors. At the same time, they prescribe medications for the most diverse eye conditions like inflammations, allergy, and infections. These prescribed medications help secure further treatments.
👁️Patient Educations
Pediatric eye care is null and void without awareness. One of the core responsibilities of that the optometrist must adhere to is providing the most accurate information to the care users. You should help provide the expert with the resources and information. It can help you understand the health of the eye and make the key decisions.
👁️Guidance Of The Procedure
Experts like the Naper Grove Vision Care Optometrists can assist you with the guidance and the procedure required to treat an issue. For example, if a patient is undergoing cataract and LASIK surgery, then that doctor takes control of the entire operation. At the same time, they check out the possibilities while providing the best treatment to the care users. Clinical decision-making on the patient is also a significant part of treatment. All these find a place under pediatric eye care.
When to Get a Pediatric Eye Exam
Your child should have regular eye exams to take care of their ocular health. Vision issues tend to develop slowly over time, making them easy to catch when you take your child for eye exams. The sooner an eye condition is detected, the easier it will be to treat.
Ideally, you should get children an eye exam when they are between the ages of 6 and 9 months. If no issues are detected, you can wait to schedule another comprehensive eye exam when they are between 2 and 5 years old. When an issue is detected, corrective lenses or vision therapy will likely be advised for treatment.
Once your child is ready to start school, you should take them for another eye exam. You’ll want to give them the best head start to their studies, and if their vision is impeded for any reason, it can affect their academic performance.
Conclusion
Scheduling yearly eye exams for your child after they start school is the best way to ensure they have healthy eyesight. If any changes are detected, your optometrist will be able to provide appropriate treatment to prevent their vision from worsening. An optometrist who is experienced with pediatric eye care in children is the ideal choice as they will know how to keep your child comfortable and at ease during eye exams.
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