July 19, 2010 
Strabismus or squinting (strabismus) deserves great attention when it comes to eye health in children …
Strabismus is not only a cosmetic error, but it is also associated with reduction in spatial vision. Complex treatment of strabismus in children is performed as early as preschool age and requires long-term professional care of eye doctors and parents to co-operate.
Concomitant strabismus
This type of strabismus affects 4-6% of children. It is usually congenital and may not appear until the third year of life. With this type of strabismus, the eyes can move in all directions without limitations, and double vision doesn’t occur. Squinting can be unilaterally – just right or left eye constantly squints. In this case, the risk of developing amblyopia is greater. The second type is alternating strabismus when the eyes rotate, and a patient can sharpen a picture with his right and left eye. In this case, the risk of amblyopia is less.
Esotropia (convergent strabismus) is the most common form of strabismus in childhood. The eye squints inside, towards the nose. Exotropia (divergent strabismus) is the opposite form, when the eye runs out. This type of strabismus is less common and usually occurs later than esotropia. In some cases, we find hypertropia (vertical strabismus) – the eye runs up or down.
Paralytic strabismus
For paralytic strabismus a distinctive movement is disorder of one or both eyes. Such strabismus can be congenital, but it can be subsequently obtained. Possible causes include injury, tumors, cardiovascular diseases, degenerative diseases, and others. In this case, very unpleasant symptom is a double vision (diplopia), which restricts the patient’s mind in normal life. Doctor’s examination is always needed and also thorough examination of the cause of paralitic strabismus. With hereditary forms the only option of correction is operation.
Treatment of strabismus
For successful treatment, early detection of errors is crucial. The first step is rewriting the correct prescription correction, which is sometimes enough to compensate for strabismus. It is also necessary to examine the sight of both eyes separately, making it possible to promptly detect amblyopia. If visual impairment is present, it is necessary to start with covering the eye that has normal visual acuity, with the aim of improving sight of the poorer eye. In this phase of treatment, co-operation of parents is very important, because children often refuse to occlusion of the leading eye. If the standard therapy to correct strabismus does not help, we can start thinking about the operation. The operation can be done only once to achieve good vision in both eyes, and the most ideal time for surgery is in the preschool period, when the vision is still developing. In many cases, one operation is not sufficient and must be operated on several times.
Strabismus is a problem; its solution depends on the type, time of occurrence and other factors. However, it is important for successful treatment to contact your eye doctor on time and adhere to recommended treatment. It usually gets very difficult and demanding with children, but the task of parents is to positively motivate the young patient.
Taken from: www.optometrija.net