What to do if your child has refractive error

With the popularization of the Internet and the increase in mobile phone usage, more and more people have vision problems, and these problems are gradually affecting children. Whether it is myopia, hyperopia or astigmatism, collectively known as refractive error, when it happens to children, the impact can be imagined, which makes parents very worried. So, what should we do if children have refractive errors? Let’s take a closer look below.

1. Myopia treatment

Mild and moderate myopia can be corrected with moderately concave lenses. People with high myopia often feel that objects are too small, feel dizzy, and have difficulty seeing close objects after wearing glasses. The degree of glasses should be reduced as appropriate, or contact lenses can be worn. However, the latter can cause a series of corneal complications if not handled properly.

Laser surgery for myopia is what people often call "excimer laser surgery". It uses excimer laser to perform refractive cutting on the stromal layer under the corneal flap, thereby reducing the corneal curvature in the pupil area and achieving the purpose of correcting myopia.

When it comes to myopia surgery, many people are afraid that the recovery will be slow and will delay their work. Therefore, many myopia patients want to know how fast the recovery will be. The speed of vision recovery after laser myopia surgery depends on age, the eye's refractive adjustment ability, and the degree of myopia before the operation.

In general, young people and those with low myopia before surgery recover faster. In addition, vision for distant objects recovers earlier than vision for close objects (such as reading, looking at fine objects, etc.). Generally, you only need to rest for one or two days after the operation and then you can resume your normal life and work. However, during the process of postoperative vision recovery, attention should be paid to eye hygiene to avoid eye fatigue and discomfort.

2. Hyperopia treatment

Hyperopia does not require treatment if the vision is normal and there are no symptoms. If you have symptoms of visual fatigue or your vision has been affected, you should wear appropriate convex lenses for correction. Children with higher degrees of hyperopia, especially those with esotropia, should wear glasses as early as possible. As the eyeball develops, children's hyperopia tends to gradually decrease, so they need to have a check-up once a year so that the degree of their glasses can be adjusted at any time. In addition to wearing convex lenses for correction, you can also use contact lenses for correction.

3. Astigmatism treatment

Generally, mild and asymptomatic cases do not require treatment. Otherwise, cylindrical lenses should be used for correction. Concave cylindrical lenses should be used for myopic astigmatism, and convex cylindrical lenses should be used for hyperopic astigmatism.

The above is an introduction to what to do if your child has refractive errors. I hope it will be helpful to parents. Parents today are better off, and many children often watch TV or play games online when they have nothing to do. If they do not pay attention to eye protection, similar problems will arise. The key is that when parents find any abnormalities, they should go to a regular hospital for diagnosis and treatment in time to avoid greater impact on their children.