Having a seamless vision is essential for leading a free-flowing, regular life. A vision screening is important for identifying any concerning eye conditions. Overlooking a fundamental aspect of your life, like vision, might lead to severe eyesight damage.

In recent times, preschool children between the ages of 2 to 5 years are susceptible to near and far-sightedness. As they might be unable to convey their vision problems, prolonged negligence to eye conditions may occur. Performing eye examinations for preschool children and can diagnose eye conditions from an early stage. 

Salisbury Optometrist can help with Vision Screening for preschool children. Having expert guidance for optometric operations can help you make the right decisions for your child. In this blog, we will help you understand common visionary problems among preschoolers and how vision screening might help. 

Common Visionary Problems Among Preschoolers

Myopia (Nearsightedness) 

Preschool children between 2 to 5 years are likely to have nearsightedness from an early age. Myopia is the medical term for nearsightedness, creating difficulty in clearly seeing objects at a distance. Research by PubMed in 2020 stated that hyperopia has been common in Australian preschoolers by 3.5% in 2014. This percentage later increased to 4.3% in 2018.

Primary reasons like late diagnosis, excessive screen time and malnutrition were identified. Preparing for vision screening tests was hence identified to be necessary for controlling myopic visions.

Amblyopia (Lazy eye) 

Amblyopia known as Lazy eye, causes poor vision in any one eye but is less common in both eyes. Nowadays, preschool children are often exposed to longer screen time. In case one eye is more exposed to a screen, especially in dark rooms then amblyopia can occur. 

Preschoolers with one lazy eye can either cause near-sightedness or far-sightedness. However, an early vision screening might help in understanding the status of an amblyopia. Here’s how Sailysbury Optometrist can help you get a vision screening for your preschooler.

5 Types of Vision Screening and how it can help

1. Visual Acuity Test 

Vision screening tests can help in identifying the visionary accuracy of your preschooler. Salisbury Optometrist can provide you with a Vision Acuity Test to identify defects in near and farsightedness. Applying this test might identify whether your child is clearly viewing numbers, pictures and alphabets written at a distance. This initial test can determine whether a child has myopia or amblyopia.

2. Eye Alignment Test 

Sometimes, the level of both eyeballs remains slightly misaligned. In such cases, risks of myopia and hyperopia (farsightedness) can arise. Preschoolers go through a growing age. During this phase, performing an eye alignment test can be helpful. Based on the result, parents can choose the right frames and lenses for their children.

3. Binocular Vision Test 

Eye examinations like Binocular Vision Tests can help in identifying the visionary depth of your child’s eyes. Understanding visionary depth will help you to know how near, how far, or how accurately your child can view objects. This can help preschoolers to learn about static and moving objects more clearly.

4. Autorefraction Test 

Salisbury Optometrist can provide you with an Autorefraction Test to determine the focusing ability of your child’s eyes. Identifying focusing ability might help in choosing proper lenses and glass frames as per a child’s adjusting capability. It is advisable to choose frames as per your child’s frame handling flexibility during school and at playtime.

5. Eye health examination 

A general eye test as a part of vision screening can be useful for your child. Since preschoolers often fail to convey their difficulties, an overall eye health examination will be needed. An overall eye health examination will involve tests for myopia, hyperopia and amblyopia. 

We can provide you with the best eye specialist in Australia. Our pediatric eye care specialists can directly communicate with your child to understand their exact difficulty.

In Conclusion 

Preschoolers between 2 and 5 years old have their growing phase. During this stage, several reasons might cause different eye conditions among them. An early vision screening might improve their visionary ability, which might be effective in the long term. For a better and more beautiful vision of your child, connect right now with us at Salisbury Optometrist.