How Often Should I Have Vision Screening?

From poor vision to complete invisibility, the range of visual impairment is wide. Symptoms of poor vision include blurred vision, haze, high hyperopia or near vision, color blindness, and tubular vision.

Visual impairment

It means that due to congenital or acquired causes, some or all of the structures or functions of the visual organs (eye optic nerve, brain vision center) have been impaired, and the external things cannot be (or even difficult to) be visually identified after treatment.

Overview of visual impairment

Visually impaired people sometimes have difficulties in looking at text or images on a computer screen and performing tasks that require eye and hand coordination (such as moving a computer mouse). Increasing text and screen contrast and custom color combinations can help users with low vision. Screen description utility helps blind people

Signs and symptoms of visual impairment

The most common and often onset symptoms are rapid visual disturbances on one or both sides due to posterior optic neuritis, dark spots at the center, irregular vision loss, or even complete blindness. Only slight color vision abnormalities occur, especially dark red . Simultaneous bilateral involvement is rare, and most often occurs on the other side 2 to 3 weeks after one side is involved. If there is only evidence of bilateral involvement and no other site involvement, the possibility of Leber optic neuropathy should be considered. The degree of change in bilateral vision is often different, with one side as the dominant one. Optic nerve involvement can be accompanied by intraorbital pain during eye movements. Because most patients are retrobulbar optic neuritis, less than 10% of patients develop disc edema in the acute phase. In the chronic phase, optic nerve atrophy occurs in most patients, and the optic disc is pathologically pale. After the acute phase, 90% of the patients' eyesight recovered obviously, and some patients even recovered completely, but most of the visual evoked potentials were difficult to return to normal. Changes in vision are often accompanied by an abnormal pupil reflex, which is a Marcus Gunn pupil, which manifests as abnormal pupil dilation in the affected eye when the light moves from the normal eye to the affected eye when the eyes are alternately illuminated.

Demyelination of the optic tract, optic cross, or optic radiation can cause various types of visual field defects, such as nominal blindness, bilateral temporal blindness, and quadrant blindness, but all these visual field defects are rare in MS. The involvement of the bilateral temporal field indicates the possibility of cross-occupancy, especially in benign tumors of childbearing age, where recurrent remission-like changes can occur, which is easily misdiagnosed as MS.

The decrease in vision that occurs when body temperature increases is called the Uhthoff phenomenon. May appear after exercise, hot water bath, or fever, as evidence of subclinical involvement. This phenomenon can also occur in other parts of the body after the body temperature increases.

Causes of visual impairment

1. Sudden visual loss and normal appearance: Caused by central retinal artery occlusion, acute retrobulbar optic neuritis (including demyelinating disease), optic neuromyelitis, multiple sclerosis, central retinal vein occlusion, periretinal vein inflammation and diabetes, leukemia When there is a large amount of bleeding in the fundus, glittering dark spots (can recover on their own in a short time), retinal detachment, ischemic optic papillopathy, papillary omentitis, urgent methanol, quinine poisoning, pseudo-blindness, etc.

2. Vision quickly drops, accompanied by eye congestion or infection: the cause is acute closed glaucoma, urgent iris ciliary inflammation, severe mechanical eye trauma, thermal burns, chemical burns, keratitis, corneal ulcers, intraocular Inflammation, pancreatic abscess, etc.

3. Gradual vision loss and no congestion: Causes of cataract, corneal degeneration, simple glaucoma, vitreous opacification, retinal choroiditis, optic neuropathy, optic nerve atrophy, retinal pigment degeneration, early retinoblastoma, early choroidal melanoma, early coast 'S disease, myopia, presbyopia (presbyopia), amblyopia, pseudo-blindness, etc.

4. Chronic vision loss and eye congestion: the cause is keratitis, corneal ulcer, slow-closed glaucoma, eye trauma, chronic iriditis, fungal keratitis, endophthalmitis, conjunctiva and corneal alkali burn late stage.

Vision disorders pay attention to eye hygiene

Since the beginning of spring, the hospital's ophthalmology department has been treating several patients with "red eye" who have red eyes, swelling and pain. Acute conjunctivitis is a common bacterial infectious eye disease. The dry climate and strong wind and sand in spring are the seasons with high incidence of acute conjunctivitis. The incubation period of "red eye disease" is generally 1 to 3 days. After the illness, the eyes have a foreign body sensation and burning sensation, and mucus or purulent secretions increase, and there is generally no visual impairment. However, severe cases can involve the cornea, manifested as pain, photophobia, tearing, and visual impairment.

According to reports, "Red Eye

Visual impairment The disease is highly contagious. The secretions of the eyes of patients with "red eye disease" contain a large amount of bacteria or viruses. Therefore, towels, washbasins and handkerchiefs used by patients with "red eye disease", as well as items they have come into contact with, such as pillows, clothes, door handles, etc. Bacteria are tainted on telephones, telephones, etc. Those who are not sick use things that have been used or touched by patients with "red eye disease", or shake hands with patients with "red eye disease", and then rub their eyes, and they will become infected.

The doctor reminded the public that they should be alert, wash their hands with running water frequently, avoid rubbing their eyes with dirty hands, and use towels and washbasins. Before and after swimming and bathing in public places, apply eye drops to clean your eyes and pay attention to eye hygiene.

How visual impairment can help

In addition to wearing glasses, there are things you can do at home to help your visually impaired child. Children with low vision need to be exposed to sound and odor stimuli, so they should choose toys that make fun-noise rattles and other scented toys. Keep pointing out the smell and texture of your stuff.

Color is very important for some visually impaired children, so toys should be vivid yellow, blue, green, red and other bright colors, because they are easier to see than less vivid colors.

Some visually impaired children can play jigsaw puzzles, because jigsaw puzzles are important and they can test thinking and spatial recognition comprehension. Choose big, brightly colored toys that are easy to see. Educational toys, such as graphic panels, finger puppets, and shape classification, are equally applicable to children with partial vision as well as normal children.

In the first year, all children go through a phase of investigating objects in their mouths. Visually impaired

Telling a movie to a child with a visual impairment This stage of a child may last longer than a child with normal vision. Therefore, all toys must be easy to clean.

Once only a partially sighted child reaches the age of kindergarten, it is important to choose a suitable school for her. As long as you are willing to accept your preschool child with a visual impairment, an ordinary nursery is also a good choice, because it will provide your child with normal range of preschool activities and give her experience with other children of the same age. Don't worry that your amblyopia child may start to be shy. Make sure the teacher understands your child's situation so that your child can be carefully looked after and encouraged. This problem is usually overcome quickly. It can be helpful if you have a child psychologist available for consultation.

On the other hand, you also want your child to get more professional care, and you may want to let her enter a professional nursery specially set up to meet the needs of low-vision children. The personnel of such schools are usually specially trained and are particularly concerned about the education of pre-school children with various visual difficulties.

The years before school are crucial for your child. You must be both motivating and sensitive, and focus on your child's strengths rather than his visual weakness. In this way, you can definitely give him the advantage when starting.

Eye protection for visually impaired babies

Every mother wants her child to have bright eyes. There are 6 ways to protect the baby's eyes, so that the baby's eyes are bright and healthy.

Vision disorders check your eyes and vision regularly

Regular inspection of the eyes can detect children's eyes or vision problems early, so the mother should ask a professional ophthalmologist to check the eyes and vision of the baby every six months.

Normal babies will have a professional eye examination at birth and 6 months after birth. After that, they should check their eyes and vision at every health checkup. When your child is 3 or 3 and a half years old, a vision check is done. The next eye and vision test is usually performed before the child enters school (about 6 years old).

If your baby belongs

Students from the blind school (front left) talking to volunteers People with high incidence of eye diseases (such as the baby's birth weight is less than 1.45 kg; have eye cancer, congenital glaucoma, family history of cataracts, etc.), or the child's eyes have obvious abnormalities, and a thorough and detailed examination should be performed. The examination time needs to be appropriate in advance.

A pediatric or child ophthalmologist will check the eyes and vision of the children. These tests are not painful and cause little discomfort to the baby.

Visual impairment and sunlight keep distance

Prolonged exposure of the eyes to the sun will increase the risk of cataracts in the future. If you go out for a walk, walk or bike around noon in the sun, even if it is only a few minutes, your baby must wear sunglasses or a wide brim Sun hat to protect eyes from direct sunlight.

Do children always need to wear sunglasses in the sun? Not necessarily. Some experts believe that under the right intensity of sunlight, the eye's ability to protect itself from sunlight will be enhanced. Only in the case of strong light (such as on snow, on the beach, etc.), sunglasses need to be worn.

When the child is wearing sunglasses to play, be sure to wear a special headband to keep his eyes in place to avoid the danger of eye fall.

Visual impairment protects the eyes from injury

For infants and young children, the main danger of eye trauma is accidents at home, kindergartens, and playgrounds, so be sure to observe the following safety principles:

As long as there is a danger of damaging your eyes, your baby should wear protective glasses. The best protective glasses are composed of 3 mm thick polycarbonate lenses and sports frames.

If the child often plays in a chlorine-containing pool, the mother should prepare a well-sealed goggles for him. Remember, don't let your child dive.

Unless you are under close supervision, do not let your baby play with toys with pointed or sticks. Do not let your child run with a stick or pencil. Do not play with these toys in a moving car.

Adding smooth padding to the sharp edges and corners of the furniture protects it, especially the table that is exactly at the same level as the child's eyes.

Teach your children not to run with toys.

Keep all toxic substances out of the reach of children. Many toxic substances will damage the eyes of children once they come into contact.

Visually impaired games in bright places

Parents and children often say, "Reading or playing in a dark place can damage your eyes."

Actually, this is not the case. However, insufficient light can cause temporary visual fatigue and headache, so children should play and read in a well-lit place.

There are "laws" for visually impaired watching TV

Watching TV will not cause permanent damage to the eyes, but watching TV for a long time will cause temporary visual fatigue. If you want to watch TV and do not want to damage your eyes, you must act according to the "law": Limit the time you watch TV. Watch the TV for half an hour, let the children take a break, look at the distance, look at the flowers and plants, and rest their eyes; when watching TV, ensure that there is enough light in the room to reduce the dazzling light on the screen to stimulate the eyes; keep the distance from the TV Let the child sit far enough (at a suitable distance at least 5 times the width of the TV screen) to watch TV; some children are often absorbed by the TV and unknowingly get closer and closer to the screen, which can easily cause myopia.

Visual impairment rejects allergens

In the allergy season, some children love to shed tears, which may be caused by allergies. Children with allergic eyes need to wear wrapped goggles or goggles when going out to avoid contact with pollen or other allergenic substances. Air conditioners and air purifiers can effectively reduce allergens in indoor air.

Visually Impaired Home Test

Infancy is a critical stage of visual development. Any unfavorable factors in this period, such as congenital cataract, leukoplakia, drooping eyelids and heavier myopia, hyperopia, strabismus, astigmatism, trauma, etc., may cause visual impairment in children. Because the treatment of visual impairment is best corrected as early as possible before the age of 2 and the visual function of the child is not mature, it is very important to detect the visual impairment of the child in time. The following methods are easy to operate in the home:

Monocular occlusion test

Used to identify monocular vision. When the covered eye has weak vision or blindness, the child will not show resistance; when the covered eye has no problem, the child will be restless and resist. Repeat several times to get the right judgment.

Photoreaction

The child has a photoreceptive response at birth, and strong light can cause eyes closed and frown; the light response is already strong at two months. If the child does not respond to strong light, it may indicate that his visual function may be seriously impaired. Gaze reflex and follow motion

Normally, the baby can look at the object in a coordinated manner in the second month after birth, and move the eyeball with the object within a certain range; the active toy or person can be traced at 3 months, and the head-eye reflection is established. That is, when the eyeball moves with the gaze target, the head also moves; 4-5 months later, I can recognize my mother and show joy when I see a baby bottle.

If these instincts and conditioned reflexes do not appear during the above period, or if they show no purpose, they may have poor vision or eye movement disorders.

Flash response

From the second month after birth, in addition to being able to coordinate the gaze of an object, when an object approaches the eye quickly, blinking reflexes can occur, also known as blinking reactions. This is a kind of protection for children's cornea Protective reflection. It does not necessarily require the baby to be able to see the object clearly, as long as it has light perception. If the blink response disappears, it often indicates severe visual impairment.

Visual Impairment Buying Tips

Choosing lenses

When choosing sunglasses for your baby, choose lenses that block ultraviolet (UV) rays. These lenses can block 99% of ultraviolet long waves (UVA) and ultraviolet long waves (UVB) in ultraviolet rays. Plastic lenses are safer Durable and suitable for babies. (Love reminds mothers to go to a regular optician or children's goods store to choose sunglasses for your baby, and never buy them at a stand).

A small method to detect good and bad lenses. Before buying sunglasses, make sure that the lenses are not distorted. The simple method is to straighten your arms and keep the height of the glasses and the eyes horizontal. Look at a straight line about 1 meter in front of the lens, such as the edges of doors and windows. . Slowly move the lens along a straight line. If the straight line is distorted, such as bending and swinging or other changes, it means that the quality of the lens is very poor.

Pick color

The color of the two lenses should be uniform. Gray lenses have the least distortion and change of color, followed by green and brown. Avoid buying too dark lenses that will prevent children from seeing the objects in front.

Look at the frame

The frame should be strong, hard-wearing and comfortable to wear.