Focus on Their Future: The Key Role of Pediatric Eye Care
When it comes to raising children, the kids always come first. Parents want to see their children succeed and be the healthiest they can be so they can live long and happy lives. With all our focus on children’s health care, one type many people forget about is pediatric eye care. It’s hard for adults to understand if there is anything wrong with their child’s vision, mainly because kids don’t know how to discuss it properly. This makes this even more concerning because 1 in 4 children need vision treatment.
Clear vision is essential to children because it affects many aspects of their life. It can impact a child’s development, education, and quality of life. August is Children’s Eye Health & Safety Month, and The EyeDoctors Optometrists in Kansas want to take this opportunity to spread awareness about the importance of pediatric eye care and what we can do to help.
What Makes Eye Care for Children so Important?
There are several reasons why children’s eye health is so crucial.
You Can Help Prevent Future Eye Disease
Vision issues can be hard to describe in general. Now imagine a young child trying to explain their issues with their eyes. Since kids might not be able to describe problems they’re having with their vision adequately, it’s essential to have a professional take a look.
Pediatric eye care aims to identify vision issues at a young age. Catching issues now can prevent more severe diseases in the future. Some eye issues we can detect are amblyopia (also known as lazy eye), strabismus (also known as crossed eyes), and much more. If we catch these issues, we can improve your child’s life by correcting the problems. Not only will we improve their vision now, but it will be improved when they grow up.
Children Struggle with Nearsightedness
Nearsightedness is one of the most common eye issues, and on top of that, it is still increasing everywhere. There’s no way to outright cure nearsightedness (also known as myopia), but finding it in children will help them get the help they need early on in life. Myopia is an issue that young children might have difficulty describing. Still, it has a significant impact because it can prevent kids from seeing things from afar. This means watching TV or reading the board at school might cause blurred vision and headaches.
Taking your child to an eye doctor is the best way to find out if they are suffering from nearsightedness. Some signs of issues are if your child squints a lot or rubs their eyes. This is them trying to correct their vision on their own. Suppose the team at The EyeDoctors Optometrists discovers that your child is nearsighted. In that case, we will work with them to get the perfect glasses prescription.
Academic Performance
Children can’t perform well in school if they can’t see clearly. The school day is full of reading and writing, and children need to be able to read directions to increase their comprehension of the school material. Not only are directions often displayed on the board, but so are homework assignments. If children can’t see the homework, they will undoubtedly struggle. All of these potential issues caused by blurry vision can set your child up for failure and prevent them from performing to their standards. If taken to an eye doctor, they can get their vision tested to see if they need corrective lenses.
Your Child Needs Good Eye Teaming
You might have never heard of eye teaming or binocular vision. Eye teaming is when both eyes work together as they should, meaning they focus simultaneously and look in the same direction. Without good eye teaming, you might develop lazy eyes and struggle with blurry vision. Eye teaming, or binocular vision, is one of the things tested in a comprehensive eye exam. Writing and reading are difficult if you have poor binocular vision. It needs to be looked at early because eye teaming occurs in nearly 5% to 10% of children and adults.
They’ll Never Miss an Appointment
Children might be scared of going to the eye doctor, but as soon as they start going, they’ll get used to eye exams. Once they start going regularly, they’ll continue this trend for the rest of their lives. Suppose children understand the importance of the eye doctor and eye healthy. In that case, they’ll be sure to schedule routine eye exams.
How The EyeDoctors Optometrists Can Help
Don’t let just anybody look at your children’s eyes. It would help if you had an expert eye doctor that cares about your child’s eye health, and that’s what you’ll get at The EyeDoctors. We offer comprehensive eye care and exams specifically for children.
No matter what eye care your child needs, the eye and vision care specialists at The EyeDoctors Optometrists will provide the friendliest and most trustworthy care.
Contact Our Kansas Team Today
Bring your kids to The EyeDoctors to ensure their first visit to a pediatric optometrist is positive. We’ll ensure they’re comfortable the entire time, all while providing the best eye care.
We have locations all across the state of Kansas. No matter where your family lives, you’ll be able to find great pediatric eye care! If you want more information about children’s eye care and Children’s Eye Health & Safety Month, call or click today. Schedule an appointment at The EyeDoctors Optometrists now!