Causes of Childhood Vision Loss and Their Treatments

Health & Medical Blog

If your child has suffered a loss of vision, the deterioration of their eyesight could be due to a number of factors. Here are some common causes of vision loss among children and how the conditions can be treated.

Eye Infections

Eye infections can be caused by bacteria or viruses that invade the eye.Some of these infections can result in a loss of eyesight.

If an infection is bacterial, antibiotic ointments or eye drops may be prescribed to help eliminate the infection. However, if the infection is viral, an antiviral drug may be necessary to treat the infection and restore proper vision.

Misaligned Eyes

If the eyes are misaligned, your child may experience farsightedness, cataracts, or astigmatism. If the misalignment is corrected soon after it is detected, any resulting loss of vision may be recovered. However, the longer that the treatment is postponed, the greater the chance that amblyopia will occur. Amblyopia is the brain's lack of response to the visual stimuli from one of the eyes.

Appropriate treatments of misaligned eyes include corrective lenses. If amblyopia has occurred, an eye patch may also be used to cover the good eye and force the brain to form connections with the eye that it was disregarding.

Cataracts

Cataracts occur when the lens of an eye is clouded. The condition may affect people of any age, including newborns. Pediatric cataracts should be treated as soon as possible to ensure that proper pathways form between the brain and the eyes. Without these visual pathways, blindness may result.

For infants and young children who suffer from cataracts, physicians may prescribe surgery. During the procedure, the cataracts are removed. Once the surgery is complete, the young patient wears glasses or contact lenses to take the place of the missing natural lens. If a child is too young to wear glasses or contacts, a lens implant may be required. 

Retinopathy

Retinopathy often occurs in premature babies. The condition, which may impact both eyes, can cause infantile blindness.

To treat retinopathy in children, laser surgery is often used. The heat from the lasers stops the blood vessels within the retina from growing abnormally. In addition to laser surgery, cryotherapy is also a treatment option. Rather than heat, cryotherapy uses extreme cold to stop the abnormal growth of the blood vessels. Both laser surgery and cryotherapy preserve the frontal eyesight but may cause a reduction in the peripheral vision.

If your child has suffered a loss of vision, schedule a consultation with an eye clinic, such as Macomb Eye Care Specialists.

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22 October 2018