INFANTILE MYOPIA “eyes that know this sigh that your eyes are your eyes because you look you see.” Antonio Machado. (A valuable related resource: Dr. Mark Hyman). THE BOY WITH GLASSES few years ago, the use of glasses could pose a traumatic experience for many children, who had to endure in addition to the pet name of his peers, the discomfort of a prosthesis that did not suit them. However, this rejection of the glasses has virtually disappeared, because the child that is no longer feels an exception or an isolated case but part of a large group. Many vision problems affecting children today: myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, strabismus … but among them myopia seems to be gaining special importance among children in developed societies. Heavy myopia usually detectable within a few months after birth, especially if there is a context of strong hereditary predisposition.
The optical defect is so important that visual development is severely compromised and limited as only near vision. But the myopia may not be organic or congenital, but acquired it is a problem along the visual development and linked to environmental conditions. In many cases, the child myopia appears from the six or seven years, is an adaptation of the visual system to the stresses imposed from outside. It was found that among primitive peoples the rate of myopia is usually less than 1 percent, while in the developed myopia may affect more than 40 percent of the population. Some telltale signs of the so-called school myopia, but does not specify it, is the excessive approach to the child who reads what he writes. It is also significant that the child close to the TV again, shortly after having indicated that greater distance.
The best preventive measure is to subject the child to an examination of visual development to start school. But do not hesitate to do so earlier if the child has an eye deviation, look very closely, manipulates objects awkwardly, badly estimated distances frequently encountered … When children are full of school age, it is recommended a review of this type every year, or better, twice a year, before starting the course to verify that the main tool for learning is in perfect state, and another at the end of the academic year, it is possible that the visual system acknowledge the effects of nine months of effort and concentration, effects that may go unnoticed after the holidays. The change in attitude of children towards the glasses is due not only to widespread use, but also the fact that it is not the child who must adapt to the glasses, but to the contrary. The glasses now children combine safety, comfort and aesthetics. On the other hand, the lenses of compensation. They are especially recommended in cases of progressive myopia, as they allow stabilization and even regression of optical defect. Finally, treatment of myopia can be completed also a re-education, based on visual-motor training. Do not forget that visual development maintains reciprocal relationships with the general development of the child, so all the attention we devote to the vision can only be to their advantage. Because, as the poet said: “If one looks / everything that eye / see is not true.” Francisco Arias Solis where children do not shoot. Stop. In the glory do not need more angels. XIII Poetry Festival.