September 27, 2021
With the return to school after so many months at home, the best is to take the children to the doctor to confirm if everything is OK with their eyes. The ophthalmologist Madalena Monteiro reminds us that, in case of doubt, you should always make an appointment.
A child should be seen by an ophthalmologist whenever there is any suspicion of pathology, or whenever parents think that something is wrong with the child's eyes or vision. An ophthalmologist dedicated more to children is used to seeing babies from birth. Therefore, at any time, a child can be assessed by an ophthalmologist. If there is no suspicion of any pathology, he/she can be seen just for the visual screening. In Portugal, the child eye screening is instituted, which is done in the Health Centres by means of a photograph, and is done at the age of 2 and then at the age of 4.
Unfortunately, this screening is not yet instituted in all Portugal. And, if this does not happen, then yes, the child has to be seen in a consultation between the ages of 2...3 years. Then, ideally every 2 years, or at least in each school cycle. Even if there is no change at all, sometimes we don't notice and the child has problems. Besides, a normal first examination does not mean that later on something abnormal may not appear. The child is growing, the eyes change with growth. A normal examination in a first phase, in the first year, can after 2 or 3 years be different, the child may have other needs and have a different eye examination than the one they had initially.
In tomorrow's programme we talk about the difficulty some children have in recognising colours.
With the support of the Portuguese Society of Ophthalmology.
