The Eximer KIDS Ophthalmology Clinics provide therapeutic, machine-assisted, and surgical treatment for strabismus in children.
Causes of strabismus
Strabismus is an eye position disorder involving the deviation of one or both eyes alternately while looking straight ahead. Strabismus may be congenital or acquired: medium or high ametropia (hyperopia, myopia, astigmatism), trauma, central nervous system disorders, anomalies in the development and attachment of the oculomotor muscles, paralysis and paresis, sharp decrease in visual acuity of one eye, infectious or somatic diseases, and stresses.
What are the risks of strabismus?
Strabismus is far more than just a cosmetic defect. In a normal state, when the eyes are symmetrical, the images of objects fall on the central areas of the retina of both eyes. They merge into a single binocular image in the cortical parts of the visual analyzer. In strabismus, there is no such merger, and the central nervous system excludes the image of the squinting eye to prevent double vision.
If this condition persists for a long time, a functional decrease in visual acuity of the squinting eye (amblyopia or lazy eye) may develop. When one or both eyes are not involved in the visual process, the eye functions are suppressed or completely lost. These changes occur in the visual cortex and are irreversible in adults.
Treatment for strabismus in children at Eximer Ophthalmology Clinic
Eximer KIDS Ophthalmology Clinic employs a comprehensive approach to treat strabismus. The program is individually selected depending on several factors such as the age of the patient, the reason for strabismus, the degree and the side of deviation of the squinting eye, and many others. The sooner the treatment for strabismus begins, the better the prospects for a good result.
Attention!
Treatment for strabismus in children should be started as soon as it is detected. If treatment is delayed, the child’s visual function may be impaired. At a young age, the visual system is the most flexible and sensitive to treatment, and strabismus can be fixed without resorting to surgical intervention.
Objectives of the treatment for strabismus:
- Increasing visual acuity;
- Developing binocular vision function;
- Preventing or treating amblyopia;
- Eliminating of cosmetic defects;
- Normalizing the balance of intraocular muscles.
Treatment for strabismus is a long, complex, and multistep process. You must be aware of the time and patience required from both the child and the parents to get rid of strabismus.
How should strabismus in children be treated?
One of the stages in the treatment for strabismus in children is an optical correction. It prevents a decrease in visual acuity and avoids further development of strabismus and suppression of visual functions. It takes place under strict medical supervision and control.
Machine-assisted treatment for strabismus is aimed at preventing amblyopia and restoring binocular vision. It consists of two parts:
- Pleoptic therapy is aimed at treating amblyopia. It includes occlusion (taping the better-seeing eye to make the worse one work), machine-assisted stimulation procedures such as Reamed exercises, computer programs, laser stimulation, and magnetotherapy.
- Orthoptic therapy is aimed at developing binocular vision. It includes Reamed and Synoptophore exercises, special computer programs, laser stimulation, and magnetotherapy.
Machine-assisted treatment courses bring good results and you can get rid of certain forms of strabismus completely without surgery.
Surgical treatment
Surgery to fix strabismus in children is resorted to in cases where machine-assisted procedures cannot achieve the desired result, for example, in cases of paralytic strabismus. The decision to have surgery is made individually, depending on the severity of the pathology and other factors. Eximer Ophthalmology Clinic performs the surgical treatment for strabismus in an attenuated way, without hospitalization. The surgery in children is performed by highly qualified pediatric eye surgeons considering the particularities of each patient’s visual system.
