Causes of sharp decline in vision in children. Is your vision deteriorating quickly? We analyze the reasons and methods of fighting for eye health

The child first visits an ophthalmologist during a routine medical examination at the age of one month, then at 6 months and at 1 year. And at this time, 4-5% of children are diagnosed with congenital eye pathologies, such as myopia and astigmatism. But by the age of 11-13, this percentage changes radically: a decrease in visual acuity, according to the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, is observed in 15-17% of schoolchildren. And these numbers are growing every year.

Causes of visual impairment in children

There are many reasons for visual impairment in preschool children, but the primary role is given to physiological eye fatigue and impaired accommodation. A rich educational program in kindergarten and school, educational games and watching cartoons on the computer - all this contributes to the development of myopia.

But a child’s busy schedule only creates the preconditions, and the true enemies of good vision are:

• bad light;
• incorrect selection of furniture for classes;
• heredity;
• deficiency of vitamins and minerals in the diet;
• lack of work and rest schedule.

Some diseases can also play a role - acute respiratory viral infections, diabetes mellitus and others.

Therefore, preventing vision loss in children comes down to organizing a workspace and rest regime, monitoring the diet and enriching it with vitamins and minerals. In addition, schoolchildren need to visit an ophthalmologist at least once a year, and if symptoms of myopia are detected, every six months.

Prevention

Lighting, body position in space while reading and working with small details, the distance from the eyes to the book are factors that are extremely important for children.

• The desk and chair must correspond to the height of the child. The distance between the eyes and the lying book should be 30-35 centimeters.
• When reading, drawing and writing, it is important to provide moderately bright lighting falling on the table from the left (for right-handed people).
• Children get tired faster than adults. Therefore, the interval of their activities should alternate in accordance with age: for children 2-5 years old, the optimal working period is 15-20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of active play or warm-up. First-graders are required to work for 35 minutes with a 15-minute break, and only at the age of 9-10 does the workload increase to an academic hour.
• Similar time frames are established for studying on the computer, watching cartoons and types of creativity associated with small work.

For children with visual impairments, during 15-minute breaks it will be useful to use exercises that train the eye muscles. An ophthalmologist at the Optic Center clinic will help you choose the ideal complex, but you can always use effective and simple techniques:

• Alternating between looking into the distance and looking at objects up close. In many schoolchildren, myopia is caused by impaired accommodation of the eye, and this exercise can help in the fight to maintain visual acuity.
• We close our eyes and then open them wide. This workout will improve blood circulation and relax the eye muscles.
• Drawing pictures in the air. Ask the child to follow your hand with his eyes and draw geometric shapes with it, maintaining the maximum amplitude. Exercise improves accommodation and helps counteract progressive myopia.

Particular attention should be paid to the nutrition of children of preschool and primary school age, especially if the child’s distance vision has become worse. The causes of myopia often lie in a deficiency of vitamins A and B, folic acid, and minerals - selenium, zinc, manganese. Therefore, it is important to include whole grains, green vegetables and fruits, and leafy crops in your diet. Don’t forget about the “medicines” you know from childhood – carrots and blueberries.

Symptoms of visual impairment

A school-age child may himself complain that he cannot see well from the board. Annual clinical examination also contributes to the rapid detection of pathology. It is much more difficult to recognize pathology in preschool children who cannot themselves report the problem. The following behavior patterns should be alarming symptoms for parents:

• the baby blinks frequently and constantly rubs his eyes;
• the child has difficulty seeing into the distance, squinting when looking out the window or looking at some object;
• quickly gets tired of drawing, modeling, and loses interest.

In children under one year of age, myopia is signaled by divergent strabismus.

If you notice these symptoms, you should immediately consult a doctor.

Examination of young patients and diagnostics

The examination plan for preschool children and primary school students includes:

• survey and clarification of complaints;
• autorefractometry or skiascopy using an ophthalmoscope, determination of refraction;
• examination of the fundus after drug dilation of the pupil;
• determining the nature of movement using a four-point color test;
• determination of the volume of movement of the eyeballs;
• determination of the angle of strabismus;
• measuring intraocular pressure;
• biomicroscopy (examination of the anterior segment of the eye using a slit lamp);
• recommendations and prescription of treatment.

If a child’s vision deterioration is detected, glasses are selected as early as possible. And parents have nothing to fear: all modern children's models are made of plastic, which will not become a source of sharp fragments in the event of children's fights. An alternative to glasses for children over 6 years old can be “night correction” - orthokeratology. Its essence lies in the use of special lenses only at night, which correct the shape of the cornea and restore vision for the entire next day.

In schoolchildren, myopia is often temporary and is caused by disturbances in eye accommodation. Therefore, the ophthalmologist often schedules two visits a week apart and prescribes drops. In case of temporary impairments, repeated testing will not reveal any deterioration in distance vision.

Diagnosis of myopia: what to do?

There are no radical methods for treating myopia in children. Laser correction is only permissible from 18 years of age. Therefore, glasses become the main method of combating vision loss. Their constant wearing relieves children's eyes from increased stress and helps stabilize the process.

In addition to glasses, children are prescribed physical therapy - electrophoresis with dibazole, magnetic therapy, electrical stimulation and a number of other methods. The child’s diet is enriched with vitamins - folic and nicotinic acid, calcium supplements.

Nowadays, there are a number of ways to correct and stabilize vision in children. Doctors at the Optic Center clinic will help you choose effective and reliable options.

The main task of parents is to notice in time when a child’s vision is declining. Impaired visual perception not only brings difficulties in understanding the world around us, but can also limit contact with peers. The number of visual disorders in childhood has increased significantly, with the maximum proportion of changes occurring between 10 and 15 years.

What are the causes of visual impairment?

When looking for the culprit of decreased visual function, you need to pay attention to the root cause that caused the problem. All factors influencing vision loss in children can be divided into two categories:

According to statistics, visual impairment in adolescents occurs due to increased eye strain during the learning process and excessive use of phones.

Types of vision problems

The most common problem for young patients is myopia.

The type of problem also influences the formation of the cause of the deterioration of the condition, since several causative factors can combine simultaneously. The most common types of vision impairment in children are:

• Ametropia:
  • Myopia. Elongation of the eyeball can be either congenital or acquired. With such a deviation, the child tries to pull himself closer to the object in order to examine it.
  • Farsightedness is a pathology in which close objects are less visible. In infants, this feature is congenital, but goes away on its own over time. It is characterized by anatomical disorders of the organ.
• Strabismus. It is transmitted at the genetic level or indicates the presence of another pathological process.
• Amblyopia. Often, due to constant tension of the eye muscle, even at rest, a false form of myopia develops, which is called “lazy eye”. With this form of pathology, one of the eyes ceases to perform its function and the child’s vision drops sharply.
• Astigmatism. A defect that is characterized by a violation of the structure of the eye, lens or cornea. As a result, the child's ability to see clearly is impaired.
• Congenital cataract.

How to see the problem?

Parents should be wary that their child will lean very close to the notebook while writing.

The eyes are under constant stress at home and at school, so it is important to closely monitor their health. It is not so difficult to understand that a child’s vision has deteriorated; the main thing is to monitor the baby’s behavior and pay attention to the following actions and reactions:

• He began to squint his eyes.
• Tries to sit closer to the TV or computer monitor.
• Eyes often become red and watery.
• Grades have dropped for no reason (the child is embarrassed to admit that he does not see what is written on the board).
• Leans heavily towards the notebook or brings the book close to his face.
• The pain in the eyes bothers me and fatigue appears.

Diagnostic procedures

If you notice uncharacteristic behavior in a child, you should immediately take him to an ophthalmologist and check his visual acuity. The sooner the diagnosis is made and the cause of vision deterioration is determined, the faster it can be corrected. Based on the examination results, the doctor may prescribe the following procedures:

An ophthalmologist can additionally examine the fundus of a small patient.

• fundus examination;
• measurement of strabismus angle;
• biomicroscopic examination;
• clarification of color perception;
• determination of the volume of eye movement.

Modern medicine has new diagnostic equipment that allows for an accurate, objective and comprehensive examination. To do this, you don’t need to go to the hospital, just devote a couple of hours of free time.

• During such an examination, possible threats are identified and further actions are determined: correction, treatment or observation. The problem can be corrected by using lenses.
  • Vision correction with optical devices:
  • glasses;
• lenses.
• Exercises for the eye muscles. They need to be done every day. At first, the training is supervised by a doctor, and subsequent performance of special tasks can be done independently at home.
• Exposure to pulsed electric current. Electrical stimulation is used to stimulate the muscles of the eye, retina and optic nerve for myopia and strabismus.

Color therapy. The effect of light waves on the retina of the eye is used to treat myopia, strabismus or visual fatigue. Helps restore visual acuity.

Hardware treatment methods can stop the development of the pathological process and prevent vision from deteriorating even further. But they are effective, as a rule, at an early stage of the disease and require periodic repetition of the therapeutic course. In special cases, special assistance may be needed.

With the beginning of the school year, the lion's share of parental attention goes to all kinds of childhood diseases and their prevention, because if in the summer the child spent more time outside and regularly received vitamins, then in the fall and winter he finds himself at the mercy of textbooks, notes and the computer. Today we will talk about how dangerous this is for vision, and we will determine the main reasons for its deterioration.

Heredity

No matter how much we would like to place all the responsibility for reducing visual acuity on televisions and computers, the main factor still remains heredity. If mom and dad wear glasses their whole lives, there is a high chance that their children will share the same fate. For example, the rapid progression of farsightedness and myopia in adolescence is provoked by constant eye strain, but the real reasons - decreased elasticity of the lens and increased length of the eyeball - are genetically determined.

Like any organ in our body, the eyes will get tired if they are forced to work too often and too hard. According to many ophthalmologists, irreversible changes in the lenses appear as a result of prolonged strain and focusing of the gaze on objects that are too close to the eyes. Due to increased intraocular pressure during reading or writing, the walls of the eyeball stretch and its axis lengthens, which can contribute to the development of myopia (myopia). To prevent this from happening, you should try to keep the book or notebook at a sufficient distance (35-40 cm).

Bad light

Let's put the emphasis right away: poor lighting is not only darkness, but also an excess of light, from which retinal cells suffer. Your child will undoubtedly be happy if you give him stylish sunglasses with 100% UV protection. But you will have to work hard on the lighting of the workplace. It should not be blindingly bright, but direct overhead light without shadows and an adjustable table lamp, located so that the notebook pages and monitor do not create glare, are the most correct solution for a student. Important: all light sources in the room should have approximately the same color temperature. If the ceiling light produces yellow light and the work lamp produces bluish-white light, this will create additional strain on the eyes.

Incorrect posture

Arteries pass through the human spine, supplying the brain with blood and oxygen. Any, even minor, abnormalities in the back area can become a potential hazard to vision. For example, scoliosis or osteochondrosis causes pinched blood vessels, which leads directly to myopia. In this case, to treat the child you will need not only the help of an ophthalmologist, but also a neurologist and an orthopedist.

Lack of vitamins

Schoolchildren, whose nutrition is not controlled by their parents, often neglect healthy food, preferring sandwiches, chips, sweets and other tasty but unhealthy foods. Long-term unbalanced nutrition can lead to a deficiency of essential minerals and vitamins, deterioration of vascular microcirculation and, as a result, reduce visual acuity. In this case, the main task of parents is to entice the child with carrots, spinach, cabbage and other fresh vegetables.

What about computers, TVs and smartphones?

We will not stop technological progress, and it would be stupid to deprive schoolchildren of such a huge source of self-education as the Internet. But this is not at all a reason to give up on raising a child, leaving him at the mercy of computer screens, smartphones and TV. To prevent technology from causing vision impairment, parents and children must understand exactly how it can harm.

Recent research by scientists from Ohio University (USA) has shown that monitors themselves do not harm children's eyes. For 20 years, they observed 4,500 children aged 6 to 11 years, and came to the conclusion that prolonged viewing of movies or games does not affect the risk of developing myopia: the eye muscles move quite often, and frequent blinking moistens the lens.

Perhaps the scientists are right, but no one has canceled subjective feelings either. We know very well how tired the eyes are from reading for a long time, and the headache from sitting in front of the monitor for a day can hardly be called fiction. But this lifestyle combines all the reasons listed above: it is precisely this that provokes a lack of physical activity, poor nutrition, problems with posture and increased intraocular pressure. Instead of prohibiting your child from using a computer or gadgets, explain to him why he should not hold a smartphone close to his eyes or read on public transport. Also try to interest him in the world around him and in sports: if children see that their parents spend their weekends lying in front of the TV, they will never understand why the Internet is bad in this case.

Maria Nitkina

Sad statistics say that children's vision is getting worse and worse every year. Poor heredity, poor lifestyle, poor lighting, excessive mental stress, lack of sports, abuse of computer and TV.
As the child ages, all these problems only get worse. Parents strive for their child to study a lot in institutions with an increased workload; they are happy when the child sits up with books instead of sports games and active recreation. Sometimes the parents themselves are so busy with work that they don’t even care about the child’s vision...

When to sound the alarm?
You can notice deterioration in a child’s vision without much difficulty. For example, a child with poor eyesight often squints, especially when he wants to see something, rubs his eyes, blinks as if something has gotten into his eye. All these are symptoms that it is time to show the child to an ophthalmologist. And it’s better even to have several, since visiting one doctor cannot give a complete and reliable picture.

How can I help my baby?
Whatever diagnosis the doctor gives to your child, remember that his vision is still in your power and hands. As a rule, doctors prescribe glasses for the child, prescribe a set of exercises, and sometimes prescribe eye drops. This is a standard set, which, however, should still be used carefully. Think especially carefully about glasses. After all, by putting glasses on a child, you are dooming him to worsening vision. Try to do without this first, focusing on exercises and exercises.
In addition to the exercises prescribed by the doctor, find your own, more interesting and accessible for your baby. First of all, it is worth establishing the cause of vision impairment and eliminating it completely. For example, make sure that when reading and writing, the child does not tilt his head too low, keeps his back straight, has good lighting, and does not sit for a long time at the same activity. Every half hour you need to do physical exercises for your eyes, arms, and back. Limit watching TV and working on the computer. Don’t forget to regularly visit an ophthalmologist once a month to check your vision and record any improvements.

Exercises to improve vision for young children.
If your child has been watching TV for a long time, his eyes are tired and red, do some eye exercises with him. To do this you need:

Blink your eyes quickly, close your eyelids, sit quietly for 5-10 seconds.
- Close your eyes tightly for 5 seconds, open them, look into the distance, hold your gaze for 5 seconds.
- Extend your right hand in front of you. Slowly move your index finger right and left, up and down, and follow the movement of the finger with your eyes.
- Slowly roll your eyes left and right. Make several circular movements with your eyes. Sit on a chair, rest your palms on your waist. Turn your head to the right without bending, look at your left elbow, then do the same in reverse.
- Using your index fingers, gently press on your closed eyelids, lightly massaging them. Such children's eye exercises should be carried out every day, preferably in the evening. Each exercise must be repeated 5-6 times.

This set of exercises is suitable for young children, starting from 2 years of age.

Exercises to improve the vision of a school-age child.
For older children, there are also various eye exercises. At school age, the load on children's eyes increases significantly; children spend a lot of time at the computer and read a lot of literature. The eyes get tired and vision may deteriorate. To prevent this from happening, show your child a set of simple but effective eye exercises:

First of all, you should relieve tension from your eyes. To do this, you need to sit on a chair, cover your eyes with your palms: cover your right eye with your right palm, and cover your left eye with your left palm. You can't put pressure on your eyes. Next, you need to relax and look with your mind's eye in front of you. At this time, imagine some joyful event, something pleasant. This exercise should be performed every day, for 10-15 minutes.
- If a child sits for a long time reading a book or in front of a monitor, you need to take a break. Get up from the chair, walk around the room, making circular movements with your head. 10 times clockwise, the same number counterclockwise. You need to alternately place your right hand and then your left behind the opposite shoulder. Then stop, stand on your tiptoes, and stretch upward towards the ceiling. This simple exercise will help relieve tension from the spine, increase blood circulation in the head and neck, and relax the eye muscles.
- If your eyes are tired, to improve your vision you need to blink your eyes quickly for 1-2 minutes. Then close your eyes and massage your eyelids with light movements of your index fingers. This exercise trains the eye muscles and improves blood circulation.
- Do this eye exercise for children with your child. Extend your right hand in front of you, focus your gaze on your index finger. Turn your gaze to some large object standing further than 3 meters. Then you need to turn your gaze back to the finger. Do this exercise several times with each hand. This kind of exercise trains vision, the child learns to see equally well both at a distance and at close range.
- Glue a black or red paper circle measuring 5 mm onto the window glass. Place your child opposite. You need to look at the circle for 2 minutes, then you should look at some distant object outside the window, carefully examine it in all details. The exercise should be done every day for 10 minutes.
- Do the following exercise while standing: Extend your arm straight in front of you, look at the tip of your index finger for 5 seconds. Then slowly bring your finger closer to your face, continuing to look until you begin to see double, then also slowly move your hand back. Repeat the exercise 6 times.

Also, to prevent vision loss, deterioration, force your child to move more, play outdoor games, and play sports. Watch his posture. When a child bends his back while sitting in a crooked position, the blood supply to the brain is disrupted. This condition causes blurred vision. Do not allow children to stay in front of the TV or computer monitor for a long time, especially in a dark room. To train your baby's vision, buy him bright, moving toys that spin, roll, and jump. And, of course, regularly do eye exercises with your children. Let it become a daily, healthy habit.

If after your last visit to the ophthalmologist you discover that your child’s vision is not 100%, then many questions immediately arise, and the main one is what to do? What reasons provoked this pathological process? Can folk remedies help restore a child’s vision? Readers of Popular About Health who are faced with the problem of deteriorating vision in their child will find answers to their questions on this page of the site.

The child's vision has decreased - reasons

In general, there are three main causes of visual impairment in children. These include:

Heredity. If close relatives had eye problems, then they will (most likely) be passed on to their children.

External factors - incorrect posture, reading while lying down, frequent and long stays at the computer, games on a tablet and phone, heavy strain on the eyes without a rest break.

Psychological factor - after suffering psychological trauma, the child gradually loses his sight. This happens more often with young children; their psyche is still quite unstable and subject to outside influence. For example, a child accidentally became an eyewitness to cruelty, and this picture penetrated deeply into his consciousness. Subsequently, the baby subconsciously defends himself and refuses to see such things. Vision begins to deteriorate.

Should my child wear glasses if his vision is impaired??

When you turn to an ophthalmologist for help, all you can count on is the prescription of vitamins and the selection of glasses. However, it has already been proven that glasses usually do not solve the problem; they are not able to restore vision. If your baby starts wearing them, then every year or less you will again be forced to select more and more powerful lenses. According to Professor Zhdanov, wearing glasses immobilizes the eye muscles, they weaken even more, which leads to further progress of the pathology.

To improve vision in a child or adult, you need to make the eye muscles work. The eyeball is framed by longitudinal and transverse muscles. They contract and relax. In the process of compression of the transverse muscle fibers, the eye acquires an oval shape, the focus shifts, and the person sees well into the distance. When these muscles relax, the eye takes on a round shape - the child sees well up close. Wearing glasses leads to the fact that these muscles stop functioning altogether, because the lens does the work instead.

What to do if a child’s eyesight is falling and he sees poorly?

For the eyes to function well, their vessels need to be provided with good blood circulation and vitamins. This is the main condition. Secondly, you need to make the eye muscles work. If the cause of vision loss is psychological trauma, an experienced psychologist should work with the child. First, let's talk about nutrition.

Your baby’s daily diet must include foods enriched with vitamin A (retinol). It is found in carrots, persimmons, and pumpkin. It is worth noting that this substance is fat-soluble, that is, when consuming the listed products, the child must eat vegetable or animal fats. The menu should also contain foods rich in phosphorus, vitamins B and C, as well as potassium. So, what should you eat every day?

1. Fish;
2. Spinach, dill, parsley;
3. Bananas, apples;
4. Carrots;
5. Beef liver;
6. Pumpkin;
7. Citrus fruits.

Gymnastics for the eyes

Special exercises aimed at restoring vision play a huge role. There are many techniques that, when performed regularly, can significantly improve vision, cure myopia, farsightedness and even astigmatism. Here are just a few eye exercises.

1. Let the baby stand in the center of the room and slowly look from the ceiling to the floor (10 times), then from left to right, trying to look at the walls (10 times). The head remains motionless! Then you need to draw a circle with your eyes, moving them clockwise and then in the other direction.

2. Charging to focus on an object. The child stands at the window (40 cm to the glass) and looks into the distance for a minute. Then he turns his focus to the glass, holding his gaze on it for a minute. Do this 4-6 times.

There are a lot of exercises to improve vision, it’s worth watching Professor Zhdanov’s video, and also adopting candlelight exercises practiced by yogis. You just need to do them every day for a long time.

Folk remedies will help if a child’s vision is failing!

There are also folk remedies that help improve vision in children. One part of aloe juice is combined with an equal amount of honey and left in the refrigerator for 7 days. Then dilute with water 1:1. This healing solution is instilled into the eyes 2 times a day, 3 drops each. Treatment is a month, after a break of 10 days, and again a monthly course.

Propolis is a gift from nature, capable of restoring all living things. For children, only an aqueous solution is applicable, fortunately, it is now available in pharmacies. Take it 3-5 drops before meals 30 minutes twice a day. The course of treatment is 30 days. Both treatment methods can be used if the child is not allergic to bee products.

If your child’s vision is decreasing, do not panic and immediately put glasses on him. With effort, you can achieve good results in treatment. Undoubtedly, it is worth limiting the time your child spends at the computer and taking breaks after half an hour of working at a desk, so that the eyes have time to relax.