How To Detect Astigmatism In Children
Astigmatism in children is a very common vision problem. In fact, this disease affects almost 15% of the entire population. Most cases occur in childhood or adolescence.
This is because astigmatism has a certain hereditary component. This information can help guide the diagnosis, as astigmatism is often associated with other visual disturbances, such as myopia (which is inherited).
The problem is that if astigmatism in children is not detected in time, it can significantly affect school performance. Therefore, in this article, we will explain everything you need to know about astigmatism and how it is diagnosed.
What is astigmatism in children?
Astigmatism is a refractive error, just like myopia or farsightedness. Refractive errors are changes in vision that prevent the eye from focusing light precisely on the retina. This leads to blurred vision.
In the case of astigmatism, the difficulty arises when the person tries to focus on an object, no matter how close or far away it is. In other words, astigmatism affects both distant and near vision.
Astigmatism differs from myopia in that it makes distant objects appear blurred. In turn, farsightedness affects near vision. It is important to know how to distinguish these diseases, because each requires different corrections.
What is the cause of astigmatism in children?
The corneas of children with astigmatism are flatter than normal. This anterior segment of the eyeball allows light rays to focus on the retina. Its normal shape is concave.
For this reason, when the cornea is flat, the rays are not projected toward the retina, but rather in front of or behind it. In some cases, the shape of the retina is also altered, in addition to that of the cornea.
Types of astigmatism
Thus, the first type of astigmatism is myopic astigmatism. In this case, one or both meridians are concentrated like a myopic eye. Astigmatism in children can also be hyperopic. In this case, the eye is weakly focused on close distances. Astigmatism can also be mixed, combining errors of the two previous conditions.
Symptoms of astigmatism in children
One of the most common symptoms is educational challenges without a known cause. The child may seem inattentive or even hyperactive. But this lack of concentration comes from the child’s inability to focus on the letters of books or blackboards.
These children tend to suffer from frequent headaches and squint to try to focus on objects. Another typical gesture is to tilt your head to see better. This makes them suffer from red eyes or itching due to excessive exertion.
In fact, the low interest in reading is based on visual difficulties. If these children read aloud, they tend to omit whole lines of text or change syllables.
