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Dr. Andrew Rynne
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Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Intermittent Squint In 18 Months Old Baby

my daughter is 18 months old , she have intermittent squint in her right eye , especially when she is feeling sleepy and tired. the squint was noticed first after 5 months and when she was seven month old we consulted an ophthalmologist . he asked to apply one ointment in both eyes for three days (three times a day) ,( after that the pupils seem dilated for almost a month). after three days he examined eyes with some special kind of torch and instruments and said not do further treatment then ,as she doesnt have squint always, and to do surgery if she looks squint constantly. I consulted our pediatrician for the same and she asked to wait until the baby is 2 year old. My family has a history of squint and i have seen children naturally outgrowing it. Should i be worried? Is surgery only method to overcome the issue? If so which is the best age for it? Is there any risk factor associated with surgery? what are the post surgical traumas that can be expected?
posted on Tue, 8 May 2012
Twitter Wed, 9 May 2012 Answered on
Twitter Mon, 21 May 2012 Last reviewed on
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  User's Response
Dear Onlysubhaa, Thanks for the question. Since your daughter is only 18 months old her visual systems and ocular muscle control is still in a developing state. Also as the squinting is only intermittent and your ophthalmologist has ruled out any organic defect, I don't think you should worry about it too much. It is only after about 24 months of age her eye functions can be reliably checked including any fixation defect as well as the refractive status of the eyes. If the squinting increases and depending upon the direction, most of child hood squints are amenable to treatment by corrective glasses. Only in cases where there is gross squinting or problems with ocular muscle balance, surgery may be considered.
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Ophthalmologist,  Dr. Swapnil Kothari's  Response
hii there

What your ophthalmologist has done is something called dilated flash or atropine flash. That is the standard way to go about when talking about a child and he's done the correct thing.

Rest assured that u r child is in good hands. Do continue to follow up with him/her every 6 month and keep us posted as well.

Hope she gets straight soon.
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Intermittent Squint In 18 Months Old Baby

Dear Onlysubhaa, Thanks for the question. Since your daughter is only 18 months old her visual systems and ocular muscle control is still in a developing state. Also as the squinting is only intermittent and your ophthalmologist has ruled out any organic defect, I don t think you should worry about it too much. It is only after about 24 months of age her eye functions can be reliably checked including any fixation defect as well as the refractive status of the eyes. If the squinting increases and depending upon the direction, most of child hood squints are amenable to treatment by corrective glasses. Only in cases where there is gross squinting or problems with ocular muscle balance, surgery may be considered.