August is Children’s Eye Health Month.
August is Children’s Eye Health month, which is convenient since it’s almost time to head back to school. While children are too young for LASIK procedures, we’re here to share some tips on how to keep your kiddos’ eyes as healthy as possible.
Schedule Regular Eye Exams
Unless your child has exhibited symptoms of a more serious eye conditions, eye examinations can generally begin around age three. Annual pediatric appointments will conduct basic eye tests. Your pediatrician should be able to determine if your child should see an ophthalmologist.
Childhood Eye Conditions
Most conditions, such as refractive errors, are easily corrected with glasses or contacts. This is incredibly common in school-aged children.. However, there are several other children vision conditions that are more serious and may require a spet to diagnose and treat. These include:
- Chronic eye infections
- Crossed or wandering eyes
- Drooping eyelid(s)
- Excessive squinting
- Lazy eye
- Color blindness
Eye Safety Tips For Kids
Kids need eye protection, too! Most children are incredibly active, whether in sports or just being kiddos. Be sure to provide protective sports eyewear whenever possible. HAP estimates that children make up the majorityof the 42,000 sports-related injuries that occur each year (https://www.hap.org/health/topic/eyemonth.php). It’s also important to carefully supervise children around sharp objects, such as scissors.
Additionally, kids need to protect their eyes against UV rays, just as adults do. Invest in hats and UV-blocking sunglasses to protect little eyes from photokeratitis (sunburn of the eye).
All of us at EyeLASIK want to make sure your little munchkins are seeing clearly and avoid any injuries. We want to see our smallest patients grow up with healthy vision!