SQUINTS - experiences?!?

[CakeandFineWine]

Hi all
Just took DD (12months old) to GP's for simple case or oral thrush and daktarin treatment!

Been told she has a squint and he's made a referral to paediatric opthamologist.

Any experiences?
How do they test for it?
What are the treatment options?

Thanks in advance all

um, not much exp but was told ds had squint, referred to opthamologist.

assessment with loads of looking at things and pointing to boxes and puppets and stuff (he was about 18mths) she was great with him.

Came away being told he had perfect vision.

He is now 7 and no sign of a squint.

Good to know he might just be edging on the side of caution tho!!

Think she has got one he's the third healthcare professional to mention it just know one else done anything about it

My niece has this. She's 14 months. She was tested by a paediatric opthamologist and they say she is short sighted which causes the squint. Apparently this may well rectify itself as her eyes develop, or she may need glasses in the future. But nothing is happening for the meantime, she's being tested again in 6 months. But her squint is very very noticeable and has been since about November, whereas it sounds as if your DD's is less obvious.

Oh yeah it isn't REALLY obvious by any means.

I've always queried it because I can see it but I'm with her lots.

Her uncle whose an optician hasn't noticed so its hopefully only slight.

good luck

Thanks

I had a severe squint and was far-sighted. I had to wear glasses with eye patch and had an operation when I was 5. Had to do lots of "eye exercise". I was absolutely fine after the op and didn't wear glasses until, at 13 I became short-sighted. Tbh, it doesn't sound as your dd has a severe case of squint, otherwise you'd probably have realized it already, I suppose. Good luck, many cases of squint resolve without any kind of medical intervention

My pal's wee girl (14 months) has just had a squint seen to by optician and opthalmologist, She's long-sighted and they've given her glasses and said she might need a small day op at some point if they can't resolve it with the glasses. Problem is that it's v difficult to get a 14 mo to keep the glasses on I guess...

I think the test was by moving toys around in front of her, that sort of thing.

DD2 was reffered with a squint when she was 2.9. She is long sighted which has resulted in a squint in her right eye. She wore glasses for 2 months and then went back to opthamologist and was given patches to wear for 2 hours a day.

She is now 3.7 and had an appointment last week where they reduced the patch to 1 hour a day as the sight in the weak eye is almost the same as the other.

Was also told to ask for a referal for DS 17 months when he reaches 2.

ds3 (2.7) has one. They see him for check ups about every 4 months. Have been told he will probably need an op, although I'm hoping he won't.

Can I ask if it's a squint when one eye kind of rolls out to the side from time to time? I've noticed in the last couple of weeks that this has started happening with dd (she'll be 2 in October), particularly when she is tired or not really concentrating.

both of mine have squints and wear glasses. they were tested by having drops put in their eyes to dilate the pupil, then they look at the back of the eye. it is the only true way to tell on small children. the drops sting a bit when they first go it, and their sight will be blurry for a few hours after., but is perfectly safe.

squints happen if they have one eye weaker than the other. basically, the brain stops using the weaker eye, relaxes the muscles, and that is when it drifts. glasses make the eyesight the same from both eyes, usually as each lense is a different strength, and therefore forces the brain to use each eye equally. patching is used mostly when there is still some squinting even with glasses on, to exercise the weaker eye. dd is having patching atm, just 2hrs after school

Alot of babies look like they are squinting due to the flattness of the bridge of their nose and it's really only when they are a little older that a squint/lazy eye can be diagnosed. Assessment is done using a variety of visual tests - they get the child to track an object, pick out shapes, look for 3 D images (which you have difficulty with if you have a squint) etc. None of the testing is invasive barring the drops one that the previous poster mentioned.
If your child does have a slight squint, which at this stage he may not; you really only notice it when the child is tired. I was diagnosed with a very slight squint at around 3yrs and my mum used to notice my eye turning in when I was especially tired.

The treatment usually beings with patching/glasses which involves covering the stronger eye, thus forcing the weaker eye muscles to work harder. The eye has a set of muscles on each side holding it in place and if one side of muscles is weaker than the other, the eye is pulled towards the stronger side - hence the drift.
Often patching and glasses do the trick and no operation is needed. If the squint is more severe, then the muscle can be tightened surgically by day op - quite routine now.

Usually the child will be slightly longsighted, although I believe children are anyway. Squints can be hereditary too. My eyesight is fine, I stopped wearing glasses at around 12yrs old and despite approaching 40, have never needed them since

Both my children have been monitored for squints but have perfect vision.

Sorry for the length of post but hope that helps!

I have a squint
Was diagnosed early but 30 years ago there was along wait for corrective surgery & not the knowledge of patches etc there is now.

Had operations at 9 & 16 but is still there slightly & I do not have binocular vison..

I'm not telling you this to scare you but to show that if there is a problem it's great they are taking it so seriously.

I am keepng a very close eye on my dd (9 months) as itis hereditary.

As for treatment patches can work well & if necessary you will be refered for corrective surgery. What is most important is that it is caught early - sounds like your dd is in good hands

Good luck

I noticed my dd squinting at around 18 months although if I look at early photos of her the squint was there even earlier. It was my hv that got her a referral to the orthoptist at the hospital. She is long sighted in both eyes and her eyesight was weaker in her left eye. She has the drops so they can check the back of the eye, has to look at varying sizes of pictures, etc and was being patched for 2 hours, then 1 hour and is currently not doing any patching. She has had glasses since 18 months and is now 3.8years. Her squint is still noticeable even with the glasses on so she will probably need the op closer to starting school (as kids can be cruel sometimes I suppose!!)

HV thought DS had a squint at 18 months. several months later, he went to the ophalmologist who did some examinations, put some drops in, did more tests - and he didn't have one, turned out it was just the broad epicanthal fold (broad across the top of the nose that mimicced a squint).

My dd has a squint which was discovered (by me) at about 10 months - she is 11 now. She is long sighted and I noticed that when she was tired one of her eyes moved independently of the other one. It goes inwards.

She is very lucky in that her squint is corrected by wearing glasses and she doesn't squint with them on (or at least only a little bit so that you would hardly notice). She had patches and this helped to keep the vision up in her bad eye. She has never had an operation - so this isn't always necessary (a big worry for me).

I felt so sad that she had to wear glasses as a baby, but looking back she was really cute with them on. She had curly sides on them and they were such thick specs at age 12 months. They are thinner now, but she still squints and probably always will.

The key thing is to make sure that your kid wears the patches and the glasses and then it will be fine. Some people are so worried that their little girl looks "speccy" that they don't make them wear glasses and then their vision is impaired.

Good luck.

By the way, no child has ever commented on her squint, in fact, when she was very young they were extremely caring towards her particularly when she was "patched". Even now at 11, children have never commented - so many wear glasses at 11 upwards that it isn't really an issue.