My 3 year old son has been having some eye issues the last couple of days. He is constantly blinking and rubbing them. They are not red or swollen. There is no mucus. He seems to do this more when looking at the television or books, but it is not the only time it happens. He does not have a fever, does not tell me that his head or eyes hurt, and he has been taking zyrtec for allergies.
Should I take him to his pediatrician, give it a couple of days and/or look at taking him to the eye doctor? Has anyone else had these problems?
His diet has not changed, his daily routine has not changed, he has not been around other kids, he has not complained or acted ill either.
I know when in doubt to take him to pediatrician.... just think I need reassurance that I am not over mommifying him!!!
thanks everyone! He has been swimming some the last 2 weeks too. Went to pharmacy to get some eye drops and talked to the pharmacist. We are already noticing a difference with the blinking!!!! I am going to give it a week without the swimming and see what happens.....if still not doing any better will make an appt. :)
I don't think a pediatrician is in order. There's no evidence they are infected.
If you decide to seek a vision exam, take him to a behavioral optometrist, not a standard eye doc. You will get a far more comprehensive exam.
Also be aware that, especially in young children, vision issues can spontaneously resolve.
My son's eyes will do that if he plays video games (he's 4) for longer than 30 minutes. I don't know if it's the same thing, but if it involved electronics, it can be completely normal.
I'm not 100% sure on this but it sounds like a trip to the eye doctor is in order. You say it happens when he's exercising his eyes a lot (t.v., reading) which means that he's having something similar to blurred vision. He's rubbing his eyes and blinking to try and bring the pictures in focus.
I'd almost bet on it. It couldn't hurt, right? Let us know what happened.
Jen
The allergy meds might be making his eyes a bit dry. Thats what they are supposed to do to keep the runny stuffy sneezing noses dry. But he might not even be aware of them feeling dry. He just rubs them thinking he needs to rub them. When you watch tv, or a computer screen, you tend to concentrate and not blink as much, so dry eyes would be more annoying then. A check up with an eye Dr cant hurt, and you might find some child safe eye drops work wonders. See what happens when you stop the allergy meds if thats possible.
You may want to consider taking him to the eye doc. This is what alot of kids will do when they're having trouble seeing because they don't know what's going on so they rub them thinking it will make it better. Around this age is when you'll see some kids needing glasses. My daughter has had them since around that age and it has not been a big deal at all, she's now almost 11.
If in doubt take him to see a pediatric opthamologist. He might have the early symptoms of amblyopia, which needs to be treated at least by the age of 3. He will not tell you that he can not see because he does not know any different. It is easy to treat early with property fitted prescription eye glasses. Check out the Children's Eye Foundation. Make sure you go to an opthamologist (an M.D.); do not go to an optometrist. My daughter was doing similar things like your son is doing & I took her to get her eyes checked by a pediatric opthamologists and now she is wearing glasses and we are able to correct & save her vision in the bad eye.
Sounds like itchy eyes due to allergies. You may want to call the pediatrician and see if you can use an over the counter eye drop. Or just use the saline eye drops (no medication just saline.) you can get these over the counter. If he is not having any other vision issues then it doesn't sound like a visit to the eye doctor is needed. They should check his vision at his next ped appointment.
My son did the exact same thing at the exact same age - turned out he needed glasses (astigmatism).
I just took my 3 year old to a pediatric opthamalogist because he was squinting all of the time and had to be RIGHT in front of the TV or a book. Turns out, he is extremely nearsighted (-5 in one eye and -6 in the other). I'm glad I took him. I would give it a week or so to just be sure it isn't an allergy or something, but if you notice it continue past that, then I would call the pediatrician and ask for a referral to a pediatric specialist. When they are that young, you really need a pediatric eye doctor and not just a standard eye exam. Good luck! My son's glasses will be in this week and I'm hoping he loves being able to see!
my friends daughter was doing the same thing, turns out she is very farsighted in one eye. she had started compensating with the other, the doc said she may have saved her eyesight in the worse eye, as the muscles were getting weak from not using it. go to a pediatric opthomologist. my son is just 4, has been wearing glasses for about a year now, so cute, he has a bad astigmatism. with that also, the sooner you treat it the better....
He probably doesn't blink often enough when reading or watching the screen. There's also a possiblity he needs corrective lenses to reduce eye-strain. If he's never had an eye checkup, now's the time.
