Once a child is found to have amblyopia, he should first undergo mydriasis optometry to understand the refractive state, wear appropriate glasses, and correct his hyperopia, myopia or astigmatism first. Appropriate glasses are good for correcting strabismus. Ouyang Jun, Department of Ophthalmology, Jiujiang First People's Hospital
Some amblyopia treatment methods need to go to the hospital regularly due to conditions. However, the treatment of amblyopia in children is long and costly, so family therapy is the most convenient and economical, which can not only reduce the burden on parents, but also insist on treatment. At present, there are many small therapeutic instruments and methods used at home, which can be selected and applied under the guidance of ophthalmologists. Commonly used traditional methods are as follows:
(1) Covering therapy: Covering therapy is an ancient and effective treatment method for amblyopia, and it is one of the simplest, most economical and most effective methods for treating amblyopia in children.
* Strict monocular covering method: suitable for children with anisometropic amblyopia and strabismic amblyopia. Such children often have good eyesight in one eye and poor eyesight in the other because of deep inhibition.
Methods: Black cloth blindfold was used to cover eyes tightly, and amblyopia was forced to see things, so that it was stimulated and exercised, gradually eliminating inhibition and improving vision. For amblyopic children under 3 years old, it can be covered continuously for 3 days and then released 1 day. Children over 3 years old can be covered continuously for 3- 15 days and released 1 day. In the course of treatment, we should check the changes of amblyopia vision, check the vision every half month, pay attention to the health of vision, and prevent the vision from decreasing due to covering.
* Alternating binocular covering method: suitable for ametropic amblyopia and monocular strabismus amblyopia. If amblyopia has equal vision, it can be covered alternately with equal eyes.
Methods: The left eye and right eye were covered for 3 days respectively. If the binocular vision is different, the method of 4:l or 5: 1 can be adopted according to the specific situation, that is, the eyes with good vision should be covered for 4 days first, and then the eyes with poor vision should be covered for 1 day, so that the eyes with poor vision can see more and exercise more, and their vision can be improved faster, so as to achieve the purpose of improving the visual balance of both eyes.
* Half-covering method: it is suitable for amblyopic children whose vision rises above 0.7.
The method is to cover healthy eyes with translucent plastic film, so that the vision of healthy eyes is artificially lower than that of amblyopia eyes, so that amblyopia eyes have more opportunities to see, which is conducive to the establishment and improvement of binocular visual function.
* Short covering method: suitable for amblyopic eyes whose vision has returned to normal but still lower than that of healthy eyes. In order to consolidate the curative effect, you can cover your healthy eyes when you do homework or read a book, but not at ordinary times.
(2) Fine vision training: it is a special application exercise for amblyopic eyes, which is conducive to visual development and improvement of vision. There are many fine vision training methods, which should be selected according to the age, intelligence and vision of amblyopic children, and the training methods can be changed frequently.
For example, if a red silk thread is used to thread a needle, the size of the needle can be determined according to vision. You can also practice embroidery, painting, painting, calligraphy and so on. Fine vision training must use amblyopic eyes, 1 time every day, 10 ~ 15 minutes each time. Fine vision training is an important link in the successful treatment of amblyopia in children. Parents should pay attention to this simple and easy training and make unremitting efforts.
(3) amblyopia therapeutic apparatus: Pulsed red light therapy, light brush and grating are suitable for all kinds of amblyopic children, and they are irradiated 1-2 times a day, each time 15 minutes, and three months is a course of treatment. The afterimage lamp is suitable for amblyopia with non-central gaze.
(4) Comprehensive therapy: Due to the different mechanisms of various treatment methods, comprehensive therapy is superior to single therapy. At first glance, amblyopic children should cover their healthy eyes, give more fixation exercises, and cooperate with fine vision training and amblyopia therapeutic apparatus stimulation. Amblyopia with eccentric gaze can be selected by afterimage method. After several months of treatment, if the amblyopia's vision has improved, you can go to the hospital for further treatment (for example, when the vision rises to 0.6, you can use a fixation machine for fusion training).
In short, the younger amblyopia is, the better, and it is best to treat it before 3-5 years old. As we all know, binocular visual development is basically formed at the age of 1-2, so it is a critical period for visual development before the age of 3. Most amblyopic children cannot be found and treated before the age of 3. At the age of 6 ~ 8, the development tends to be perfect. If amblyopia is discovered after 10 years old, the effect is basically hopeless.