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Astigmatism in children can cause a variety of physical symptoms and severely impact their development and education.

The good news is that this eye condition typically can be easily corrected or more accurately, adjusted for.

What is Astigmatism?

This is not an illness as such. It is an irregularity in the shape of the eye’s cornea which results in images falling on several parts of the retina rather than one, making the image out of focus or sometimes multiple images may be seen for the same object.

Medical specialists often illustrate this by quoting a normal cornea as being roughly the shape of a half soccer ball while an astigmatic cornea is more like the shape of a rugby ball. This example is useful but may exaggerate somewhat the actual differences.

Causes

As with a surprising number of conditions, the exact causes are not understood although genetics is known to play a significant role. If you have astigmatism in your family’s history, there is a much higher chance of your children also suffering from it.

Studies in the US suggest that roughly 23% of children have slight astigmatism in the age range of 1-12 months but by the age of 2, most of these have self-corrected and require no intervention.

Similar studies have indicated that children of Hispanic genetic heritage are most likely to suffer ongoing astigmatism in the age range 5-18 years (roughly 36% of the total) followed by children from Asian genetic backgrounds (33%). The figures for African and Caucasian heritages have varied, with some studies showing one group is more likely to suffer this condition, while other studies have shown the reverse.
Symptoms

Some symptoms may manifest themselves as being almost identical to short or long-sightedness. Other symptoms to look for might include:

• dizziness;
• itchy eye;
• headaches;
• signs of visible eye-straining;
• eye congestion;
• children who find it difficult to concentrate on a book, picture or board in school.

The condition may affect one or both eyes and there are different types, depending upon the exact nature of the eye’s distortion. Astigmatism in only one eye is moderately unusual and often the result of another condition or accident.

There is also evidence that astigmatism may be linked to the development of the eye condition colloquially known as “lazy eye” (amblyopia).

Detection

Most younger children will normally have an eye test of some sort as part of their developmental health screening.

These tests may or may not detect astigmatism and it’s not unusual for the first observation to be noted by parents or daycare providers. Once suspected, there are a variety of non-invasive eye tests that should quickly spot the condition in most cases.

Treatment

A doctor or ophthalmologist will advise on options on a case-by-case basis

Where younger children such as toddlers are involved, no action may be recommended, to see whether or not the condition self-corrects.

In the case of older children, the commonest treatment remains corrective spectacles. Inevitably with younger children, there are concerns about the practicalities of spectacles but most children adopt very quickly and both the lenses and frames can be constructed to be shatter-proof.

As the child ages, there may be options for contact lenses and even laser surgery, to help light entering the eye to be focused clearly on the correct parts of the retina.