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Most mothers feel relief when the baby, still in the maternity, receives normal result after passing the eye test. What not everyone knows is that the exam, fast and painless, still needs to be repeated at least three more times every year until the child is 3.
“It didn’t end there in motherhood. On the contrary, it only started there. Throughout the first year, there are at least three new tests, besides this motherhood. This until the child turns 3,” said the president of the 69th Brazilian Congress of Ophthalmology, Luisa Hopker.
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In an interview with Agência Brasil, the doctor explained that the eye test acts as a kind of screening for diseases such as congenital cataract, congenital glaucoma and retinoblastoma, but does not detect refractive errors such as myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism.
“He will only identify whether or not that child needs to go urgently to the ophthalmologist.”
Full examination
Luisa recalled that a guideline from the Brazilian Society of Pediatric Ophthalmology recommends, in addition to the pediatrician’s eye test, a complete ophthalmological examination, made by a specialist, between 6 and 12 months old and, again, at 3 years.
“This is the main ophthalmic examination that should be performed during childhood because it can detect several problems that are still in time to treat.”
“In this full exam, at the age of 3, you can measure vision through the visual acuity exam. You can see if this child has strabismus or not, can assess the degree with the dilated pupil and can do the eye examination to see if everything is fine with the retina,” he added.
The doctor warned that most eye -and -child eye problems have no signs and symptoms. For this reason, maintaining the child’s consultation routine is the best strategy for parents and caregivers.
“Lazy eye does not give any symptoms. High degree of hyperopia, most of the time, gives no symptoms. High degree of myopia, often, gives no symptoms. It’s something that makes us worried because, if you have no symptom, there is no way to detect except examining.”
“A lot of people still have that concept: ‘My son is not knocking on the door while walking, not stumbling.’ But these are signs that, when they appear, because of an ophthalmological disease, everything is already very serious. We do not expect this kind of symptom to go to the ophthalmologist,” he concluded.
*The reporter traveled at the invitation of the Brazilian Council of Ophthalmology (CBO).
