There are tests that are vital to ensure the visual development of your baby or detect any abnormality early.
Sight is the longest sense to mature, but it is also the main provider of information to the brain during the first five years of life. That is why during the first years of your child you must make sure that they do studies that review the different structures of their eyes.
The first of these tests will be an external examination (done after birth), to check that your eyebrows and eyelids are complete and that they do not have cataracts or any other visible congenital alteration in the front part of the eye.
His first ophthalmic study
The ophthalmological screen is the other study that completes the first eye examination because unlike the previous examination, this one checks the back of the child’s eyes four weeks after birth.
For its realization, the ophthalmologist uses an instrument called an ophthalmoscope, which, through a series of lenses and a small lamp, detects the alterations that, due to occurring in the posterior ocular structures of the eye (optic nerve and retina), are not apparent with the naked eye, but can cause low vision or blindness to your baby.
In accordance with the reform made to article 61 of the General Health Law, in January 2013, this examination must be offered in all hospitals in Mexico. If yours does not, ask your doctor to recommend an ophthalmologist (if he has the pediatric subspecialty, much better) who can do it to your baby. One way to prevent eye infections is to clean your eyelashes with the foam of an anti-tear shampoo, after rubbing a small amount of it on your fingers.
Two pediatric exams that should not be forgotten
Even if your child is not found to have any problems in the studies, it is important that you notice that your pediatrician includes in his reviews the red reflex, an examination that consists of placing the ophthalmoscope lamp in front of the pupil to produce a reddish flash. Although this maneuver does not give you an accurate diagnosis, it is highly recommended by the American and Mexican Academies of Pediatrics, because when the reflex that occurs in the pupil is white, it is usually a sign of serious eye disease, such as a tumor, cataracts or retinopathy.
In addition to this exam, does the interviewee add? It is important for the pediatrician to carry out some other tests at his regular visits that confirm that your baby (after four months) is able to look with both eyes at an object at the same time and follow it with vision.