Can I buy some drops from the Pharmacy for my kids red eye and watering in an emergency. ?

No.

Absolutely No.

You are playing with danger.

The commonest causes of Red eyes and watering are Bacterial Infection or  Allergic Conjunctivitis or mild allergy or foreign body in eye or injury or  Stye or Chalazion ……. Or even need for glasses.

There are the common causes. There could be hundreds of uncommon causes.

The young boy at the Pharmacy counter did not spend 5 years in a Medical School learning about the above conditions and their treatment.

The treatment of each is vastly different and wrong treatment could cause worsening and prolonging your kids condition.

The Pharmacy for business reasons will give you the drops which give them best profit margins.

And as a Kids Eye Doctor we have noticed absolutely wrong drops and harmful drops being given.

Also do not use any old drops that are lying around in your house.

The reasons are the same as above.

See a Kids Eye Doctor.

What is NLD obstruction, that my 2 month old child has ?

Tears are continuously produced in our eyes.

For lubrication and vital health of the eyes.

There has to be some passage to take away these tears.

That passage is called NLD.

Nasolacrimal  duct.

There is a tube connecting the nose side of the eye with the nose.

Your tears travel through this tube, into nose, then into your throat and eventually your stomach.

In very young babies, sometimes (in a very small percentage) this passage is blocked or rather has not opened up yet.

You will notice continuous redness in the eyes of the baby and watering.

In majority of such babies the passage will eventually open up.

No major treatment or surgery will be necessary.

But you have to show your Kids Eye Doctor.

The doctor will suggest some drops and a nose massage. The block will eventually open up in about a month or two.

If it doesn’t we are looking at a minor surgery or a major.

But this is required only in a very minor percentage.

See the Kids Eye Doctor immediately.

Is it necessary to test the eyes of “Special Children” ?

Yes ……. Absolutely yes.

Special  Children have the same Eye Problems, Errors and needs as enumerated in the other blog topics.

But they are different in 2 ways.

1.    They are unable to recognize their errors or express them. Hence it takes detailed and special exminations to check them.

2.    The Special Children are usually born with various Syndromes. The Eye is involved in multiple ways in majority of those syndromes. So it takes special examination to specifically look for those errors and to treat them regularly or in a planned fashion.

So a detailed, regular, quarterly examination of the Special Children is absolutely necessary.

50 % of the patients at Kids Eye Clinic are Special Children, since we are trained specialists.

Please do inform us while taking an appointment if your child is a Special Child. That way we can plan to give them more time

Squint

Can you explain to us what is Squint ? And what is the treatment.

When you look at something both your eyes are looking together.

Therefore this requires three or four assumptions for good vision.

One, your eyes are aligned in same direction.

Two, they have to move in conjunction.

Imagine a chariot, that is your brain, the 2 horses are the eyes and the multiple 8-10 reins are the muscles. The horses have to be of same strength, same speed and to turn together on pull of reins.

Thirdly your eyes have to be seeing clearly (means they have NO refractive errors).

Fourthly your brain has to be able to mix all the images (messages) from both eyes and show you one picture (with depth, 3 Dimension).

To understand how 2 eyes are different and yet brain mixes and show you one Picture, do this experiment.

Close your left eye and look at a scene with right eye, now close right eye and look at same scene with left eye. This is how 2 different pictures are then mixed by the brain and you see a single picture.

Now, when the 2 eyes are not aligned straight , in simple words it is known as Squint. (Your horses are not in synchronicity)

The commonest cause in children is Refractive error, and hence the treatment is right correction, that is Glasses/ Spectacles.  Therefore every child, should be seen by a Kids Eye Doctor , at the latest by four years of age. Especially Kids with Squint should be seen as early as possible..

There are other causes of Squint too : Birth Trauma, Infection, Paralysis, Weakness of Muscle, Weak eye, Lazy eye, etc etc.

Everything can be treated. But how much treatment is necessary, when to treat, how to treat, whether to delay is the decision of the Kids Eye Doctor.

The next common treatment for Squint is Surgery. Where the muscle is shortened, lengthened or position is changed. This sounds easy, but is a delicate surgery, as you have to adjust the 8-10 reins of your horses, so that the horses align perfectly.

Trust your Kids  Eye Doctor and ask as many questions as need be.

The other treatments of Squint are dependent on the specific cause.

What if we do not treat the Squint, as per the instructions of Kids Eye Doctor?

Then you stand to definitely have one of these, or more:

Permanent Squinting Eyes.

Weak Eyes.

Double Vision.

Impaired mobility for lifetime of the child.

Abnormal head posture, leading to it becoming permanent.  .

Can you please talk a bit about Cataract, Children and Treatment.

Can you please talk a bit about Cataract, Children and Treatment.

There is a clear lens hanging in the eye, when this lens gets dirty it is called cataract, and the lens has to be changed.

Imagine a window, when it gets dirty, this simple process prevents you from seeing things clearly, you have to replace the window.

Now Cataract is usually an age related problem.

Hence seen in Children in a very small percentage.

But when seen in Children it is a Medical Emergency.

If this is not treated urgently, and with utmost knowledge and precision, it will surely lead to Weak eyes, Blind Eye, Squint, Glaucoma and many other problems.

The first step of treatment of Cataract is removal of the cataract.

In the past it was deferred to a further age as the Anaesthesia and its equipment for very small babies could not guarantee the safety of the childs life. Not so now. Therefore Cataract removal is taken as soon as Pediatrician gives clearance.

The further treatment plans may differ depending upon age and eye size of the child :

Lens to be implanted or at a later date.

Treatment with glasses, follow up every 4 months.

Contact lenses.

Glaucoma surgery.

Glaucoma treatment.

Eventually Lens implantation.

Yes the journey will be long.

But the Child will get back very good workable vision.

Your Pediatric Ophthalmologist will be with you all through this journey.

MYOPIA

What is myopia ?

It is a Refractive error of the eye which is corrected by minus number glasses (eg -2.25 D spherical).

In very layman terms, near objects are seen clearly and distant are seen blurred.

What is the best treatment ?

Myopia can  easily and commonly corrected with (a) glasses (b) contact lenses. There are also newer surgeries for Myopia but they have to be taken up only after a certain age of the patient , after thorough assessment and after reviewing the side effects.

How does age affect myopia ?  or

Why do numbers increase ?

Normally every one is born with a little plus (+) numbers and as we grow (till  10-12 years) due to changes or growth in the eye this becomes zero (emmotropia).

But suppose you are detected with minus numbers (myopia) at age 4-10 then these numbers will increase till you grow to 18-21 years of age and then they will stabilize. Usually there is no change in numbers after this.  

Why should a myopia patient get a Retina check regularly ?

Retina, as it is is a very thin and delicate , innermost layer to the eyeball. In myopia it is extra thin. Further more there are some extra thin, frayed areas, called as Lattice found majorly in Myopes. These have to be specially looked for by a Retina Specialist.

These make a myope more prone or liable to Retina Problems (especially Retinal Detachment).

Cautions or Self Tests in Myopia ?.

Decrease in vision

Decrease in field of vision

Sudden increase in floaters (black spots)

Flashes of lightening

Curtain of darkness (Retinal Detachment)

The above 2 ** are an Emergency and you should contact and see your eye doctor immediately.

Why do I see these Black spots (Floaters) or Wiggly lines ?

In certain conditions the jelly that fills your eye (vitreous) it starts converting to liquid. The strands that float in the pockets of liquid formed, you see them as black flecks (floaters)  or wiggly lines. They will not harm you. You will learn to ignore them.

What is Laser therapy sometimes advised to a Myopia patient, even children?

When the thin areas, Lattice, seem likely to produce a potential to damage, they are welded more firmly to the eye by Laser. It is a very painless, OPD procedure.

Can Myopia be cured by “Special medicines” / Yoga / exercises ?

Myopia can be treated, it can not be cured. Patients can lead a normal life with the aid of glasses and contact lenses and should enthusiastically do so.

Updated February 2019: American Academy of Paediatric Ophthalomology has published that the new figures for Myopia in USA are 40% of kids below 15 years of age. Use of iPads, Phones and TV being the main culprit again.