Our eyes are the most delicate part of our body and demand special care. When it comes to children, the care and attention required is even higher. A child’s eyes are much more sensitive than an adult’s eyes. Therefore, the chances of developing problems are also much higher. It is very important for parents to be extra careful about their kid’s eyesight right from the tender age.
Childhood is an extremely important period in a human’s lifecycle. A healthy beginning of life is the key to overall health for the rest of the life. This is applicable to the eye health too. If not looked after properly in childhood, even a little problem can turn into a serious one. Often parents don’t pay much attention to eye care until a child complains of being unable to see distant things or some other problem. This negligence can be harmful for your child’s eyes, as many a times some problems may develop and stay undetected before turning into a severe one.
The most common problem found in kids is weakening of eyesight. It is not unusual to see small children wearing spectacles these days. The main reason behind this rising problem is excessive exposure to electronic gadgets like computers, television, smart phones etc. It is essential to limit the child’s usage of such things to protect their eyesight from getting weak. Apart from this, healthy diet and regular checkups are extremely important and should never be ignored.
Sometimes, a child may face a problem of reoccurring headache or difficulty in seeing text written on blackboard from far benches. This puts a lot of strain on eyes and over the time, worsens the eyesight. It is important for parents to take any such complain made by the kid seriously and get their eyes examined immediately. Earlier a problem is detected; easier it is to prevent it from harming the eyes.
Another important thing is that if a child is prescribed to wear specs by a doctor, he/she should wear the right powered specs. And remember, during the period of childhood, a kids body goes through continuous changes. So, a number prescribed once cannot be used for too long. So, yearly checkups and wearing the perfect powered spectacle is important to keep eyes fine.
Many a times, a child can have some eye problem since the birth. It is necessary to detect it at the earliest in order to save the eye from any severe damage. Therefore, it is recommended that parents should get their child’s eyes checked, few days after the birth or at least before his/her school begins. This can be very helpful in identifying any potential problem and stopping it at the initial stage itself. It has been found in several cases that little carelessness during this stage results in long term impacts on the child’s eyes.
Other than this, another serious eye ailment that may affect your kid’s eye is corneal infection. Continuous tearing from eyes, sticking of eyes, swelling on the eyelids, redness etc are the main symptoms of this disease. If such problem occurs frequently, doctor consultation is a must. Apart from that, medication or some infection to a woman during pregnancy can also affect the baby’s eye health. In such cases, a new born child may have signs of cataract or glaucoma, which may go undetected, if a diagnosis is not done. So, this implies how crucial it is to get their eyes examined. Especially if you notice anything unusual, don’t ever delay in seeing an eye specialist.
Now, just like regular examinations and proper treatment are essential for keeping a child’s eye healthy. Right nutrition and sufficient care is equally important. When it comes to food and nutrition, it is necessary to know that Vitamin A is a medicinal nutrient for the eyes and it’s deficiency can cause severe problem in eyes. Always make sure to feed your child with Vitamin A rich food like carrots, sweet potatoes, milk, green vegetables, seasonal fruits etc or if the child is too small, give it in form of medical doses but only on a doctor’s prescription.
In case of any problem in eyes, do not use any medicine or eye drops without consulting from an eye specialist. Self medication is strictly prohibited in case of children. Use only drops prescribed by the doctor and once the drop is opened, it should not be used after one month’s duration. Also, many people put excessive kohl on small child’s eye. It is important to understand that these products contain carbon and other chemicals that can harm your little one’s eyes.
