Treatment for Children

Overview

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Eye diseases and disorders can occur to anyone, and there are several eye conditions which can affect children. Since healthy eyes and vision are crucial for children, their eyes should be examined regularly. Many eye diseases and vision disorders can be detected and treated early.

Sunway Eye Centre not only focuses on prevention, awareness and early detection of eye problems, but also offers medical and surgical treatments with the latest technology.

Our eye specialists are experienced in treating a wide range of eye diseases and problems for children including but not limited to:

Congenital Eye Diseases Treatment

Common congenital eye diseases include cataract, glaucoma and also ptosis.

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Lazy Eye (Amblyopia) Treatment

The younger the child, especially below 8 years old, the more effective the treatment and vision improvement.

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Myopia Control

There are 3 widely accepted approaches for controlling the progression of myopia

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Neuro-Ophthalmology

Neuro-ophthalmology focuses on visual problems related to the nervous system and are not caused by the eye.

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Retinopathy of Prematurity

This disease can happen in premature babies, and can lead to blindness if not diagnosed and treated.

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Squint Eye (Strabismus) Surgery

Squint eye usually develops in infancy or childhood, with prompt treatment reducing the risk of complications.

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Vision Therapy

Vision therapy aims to improve a person’s visual abilities, and is customised to suit individual needs.  

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Congenital Cataract Treatment

Cataract removal surgery is the most effective treatment and can be performed as early as 6–8 weeks of age.

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Early diagnosis is essential to treat congenital glaucoma and can slow the development of this disease.

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Congenital Ptosis Treatment

In severe cases, eyelid surgery is the most effective treatment to prevent the onset of amblyopia or lazy eye.

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Congenital Cataract

child-cataract

Congenital cataract is described as the clouding of lens present at birth. The pupil of the infant will appear grey or white instead of black. This condition is usually diagnosed during a newborn examination by a paediatrician. If your child presents this symptom, you will be referred to a paediatric ophthalmologist.

How is it treated?

Congenital cataract is treated by removing the cataract.

Congenital Glaucoma

child-conge-glaucoma

Congenital glaucoma occurs in babies and young children. This condition is typically diagnosed within the first year of life. There are several possible causes to congenital glaucoma such as incorrect development of the eye’s drainage system before birth and leads to high intraocular pressure, which in turn damage the optic nerve. On top of that, this condition can also be inherited.

What are the symptoms?

  • check-mark-1Cloudiness of cornea
  • check-mark-1Enlarged eyes
  • check-mark-1Sensitive to lights
  • check-mark-1Tears up a lot

How is it treated?

The treatment options for congenital glaucoma include topical eye drops, oral medications or surgery depending on the underlying cause.

Congenital Ptosis

child-conge-ptosis

Congenital ptosis refers to drooping eyelids that occur at birth or within the first year of life. This congenital condition is related to complications with the muscle that raise the eyelid, trauma at birth, eyelid tumour or growth. If congenital ptosis is not corrected especially if diagnosed as a moderate or severe condition, amblyopia (lazy eye) may develop.

How is it treated?

The treatment for congenital ptosis is usually surgery.

Lazy Eye (Amblyopia) Treatment

ambliopia_estrabismo

Amblyopia is commonly known as lazy eye. This eye condition is described as reduced vision that is not correctable by glasses or contact lenses and is not linked to any other eye disease. Lazy eye is mainly due to challenges faced by coordination between the eye and the brain.

How is it treated?

A specially tailored pair of glasses is prescribed when amblyopia is caused by refractive error. In some conditions, patching therapy will be prescribed in which the child needs to wear an eye patch over the “good” eye for a few hours a day so that the lazy eye becomes more active. The duration of patching depends on the severity of the eye condition.

Myopia control

child-myopia

The prevalence of myopia and high myopia are increasing globally at an alarming rate. This phenomenon is worrying as being myopic increases the risks of sight-threatening disease such as retinal detachment and myopic macular degeneration.

How is it treated?

Currently, the most effective therapy for myopia control is a low dose of atropine (a type of eye drop), and is available in Sunway Eye Centre.

Neuro-Ophthalmology

children-Neuro-Ophthalmology

Our neuro-ophthalmologist offers services on visual rehabilitation and cerebral visual impairment. Neuro-ophthalmology focuses on visual problems that are related to the nervous system, i.e. visual problems that are not caused by the eye. Our neuro-ophthalmologist works closely with a team of neurologists, neuroradiologists, neurosurgeons and paediatric neurologists to deal with a myriad of ophthalmology cases.

Sunway Eye Centre’s neuro-ophthalmologist also deals with visual rehabilitation to take care of patients with stroke and traumatic brain injury. Patients with these conditions most times are unable to see either on their right or left side. This rehabilitation technique enables patients to improve their quality of life tremendously.

Neuro-ophthalmology services are recommended to patients with conditions such as:

  • check-mark-1Optic Neuritis (of any demyelinating or infective causes)
  • check-mark-1Optic Neuropathies (due to drug toxicity, congenital causes, Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy, compressive)
  • check-mark-1Unexplained vision loss (Congenital retinal dystrophies and optic neuropathies)
  • check-mark-1Traumatic brain injury visual rehabilitation
  • check-mark-1Cerebral visual impairment secondary to Cerebral Palsy and global developmental delay (paediatric)

How is it treated?

For children who have cerebral palsy or other forms of global developmental delays, this service will be helpful in controlling and even improving their visual symptoms. Sunway Eye Centre has a dedicated team of neuro-optometrist and neuro-ophthalmologist who will counsel both parents and child on the suitable treatment and therapy for the child. A well-developed questionnaire and treatment therapy is utilised for the management of these children with the help of their parents. This technique also plays a role in building a stronger and closer relationship between the child and their parents.

Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP)

child-retino-1500

Retinopathy of Prematurity is an eye disease that can happen in premature babies in which there is abnormal growth of vessels in the retina and that can lead to blindness. Retinopathy of Prematurity has no signs and symptoms when it first develops in a newborn. Therefore, it is essential to have your newborn’s eyes examined by an ophthalmologist.

How is it treated?

The most effective proven treatments for Retinopathy of Prematurity are laser therapy or cryotherapy. Both laser therapy aims to limit or slow down the abnormal growth of blood vessels in the peripheral retina. Both laser treatments and cryotherapy are performed only on infants with advanced stage of Retinopathy of Prematurity. Other alternatives are scleral buckle surgery and vitrectomy..

Squint Eye (Strabismus) Surgery

child-squint

A squint is described as misaligned eyes. This means that when one eye looks forward to focus on an object, the other eye turns either inwards, outwards, upwards or downwards. Squint usually begins in infancy or childhood.

How is it treated?

Prompt treatment reduces the risk of complications, such as amblyopia, or lazy eye. The younger the patient, the more effective treatment is likely to be. Treatment options include glasses for squint caused by refractive errors, eye patching, botox injection and eye exercises or vision therapy.

Vision Therapy

child-vision

Vision therapy or sometimes known as vision training, is a supervised, non-surgical treatment tailored to correct or improve certain vision problems. Unlike eye glasses, which is worn to aid vision problems, vision therapy teaches the eye to correct itself with the use of a series of tools and visual activities.

Our eye specialists may recommend vision therapy to treat the following eye conditions:

  • check-mark-1Amblyopia or also known as ‘Lazy Eye’
  • check-mark-1Squint
  • check-mark-1Eye movement disorders
  • check-mark-1Double vision

How is it treated?

Our in-house orthoptist can help to diagnose, monitor and manage eye conditions specifically related to eye movements among infants, children and adults, which can be treated without surgical intervention. Speak to our eye specialists to find out if vision therapy could be a suitable option to help your child correct his or her vision.