Approximately one in six children suffer from eye problems caused by eye fatigue. Insufficient lighting while reading, computer games, an incorrect daily routine - all this gradually leads to a decline in vision, or rather, to eye spasm.
What is this
Medics call this pathology spasm of accommodation. What is it? Accommodation is the ability of the eyes under normal conditions to adapt to changes in the refractive power of the lens and equally well to capture objects that are far and close. And with eye spasm, there is an abnormal contraction of the muscle that occurs when the pupils focus on some objects for a long time.
In adults and children, the spasm of accommodation often leads to the fact that the image of distant objects becomes blurry. That is why this pathology is often called false myopia.
Development mechanism
The reason for this condition is the tension of the ciliary muscle, which simply loses the ability to change the curvature of the lens. As a result, after natural refraction in the optical sphere, the beam is focused not onretina, as expected, but in the plane in front of it.
Gradually the lens becomes convex. It changes its shape, depending on the relaxation or tension of the ciliary muscle. When looking into the distance, its fibers become relaxed, and the lens becomes almost flat. If the object is close, the muscle, on the contrary, contracts, and the lens becomes convex.
When working too long with a close object, muscle tension is fixed, a spasm occurs, and the lens no longer changes its shape. Of course, the clarity of the picture with distant objects is significantly reduced.
According to statistics, this pathology is much more common in children of preschool and school age, but in adults it is diagnosed extremely rarely. False myopia got its name due to the fact that such a visual defect is reversible and usually easily treatable. But if the therapy is not done in time, the blood flow in the fibers of the ciliary muscle will be disturbed, the ligaments that support the lens will become weaker, and it will stop changing its shape. As a result, permanent myopia may appear, and vision will lose its sharpness. So it’s definitely not worth delaying treatment.
ICD-10 accommodation spasm code - H52.5.
Causes of pathology
There are actually a lot of conditions that provoke the development of false myopia, all of them are mainly associated with too high visual load. Although the cause may well lie in diseasesinternal organs. Doctors identify several of the most common causes of pathology:
- excessive eye strain, for example, while working at a computer or watching TV for a long time;
- disturbances in daytime routine - lack of sleep, lack of useful gymnastics for tired eyes, too rare walks on the street;
- lack of natural or artificial light while reading or writing;
- avitaminosis, lack of vitamins and minerals in consumed foods;
- impaired blood flow in the area of the cervical region;
- muscle weakness in the neck and back;
- reading lying on your side;
- too close distance when reading literature and writing notes;
- Wrong ratio of chair and table to the height of the child.
In adults, false myopia can be caused by neurological stress, frequent stress, closed craniocerebral injuries, impaired metabolism, menopause in women. But still, it is visual fatigue that is the most common cause of spasm. But be that as it may, before starting treatment, you should undergo a complete examination.
Eye spasm symptoms
Treatment of pathology should be started immediately after identifying its signs. Fortunately, it is not so difficult to recognize the disease. After all, the signs of false myopia are so clearly manifested that it is impossible not to notice them:
- systematic headaches covering the frontal region andtemple area;
- frequent doubling of objects before the eyes;
- when looking into the distance, the picture becomes blurry;
- visual fatigue occurs with minimal eye strain;
- irritability and nervousness;
- reddening of the cornea;
- dull pain syndrome, lacrimation is not ruled out.
Symptoms of pathology do not go unnoticed for a person - they bring tangible discomfort to his life. Often, children who are faced with this problem stop doing well in school. And in adults, performance deteriorates.
In addition to all the symptoms described, spasm of the muscles of the eyes negatively affects the entire body as a whole. For example, with this pathology, the mood often deteriorates, twitching of the hands and vegetovascular dystonia occur. In some cases, patients with this diagnosis have a fainting state.
The state of spasm of accommodation in the absence of therapy can last for several months or a maximum of two years, then stable myopia begins to develop, which turns out to be irreversible.
Varieties of pathology
Depending on the initial causes, doctors divide eye spasm into several types.
- Physiological type. It manifests itself with prolonged eye strain, as well as in people suffering from astigmatism and farsightedness, during visual work near. In this case, special glasses for correction and physiotherapy are used to treat eye spasm.procedures aimed at strengthening the ciliary muscles.
- Artificial look. This type of false myopia appears due to the use of miotic eye drugs, for example, Ezerina or Pilocarpine. Artificial spasm of the eye disappears after the withdrawal of pathology-provoking medications and does not need additional treatment.
- Pathological variety. With such a disease, a decrease in visual acuity is observed, pathological processes in refraction develop.
Most often, accommodation spasm is mixed, combining the symptoms of a pathological and physiological type.
Diagnosis
Eye spasm can be detected by an ophthalmologist during a routine examination or based on complaints from a person who feels a deterioration in vision. Diagnosis begins with the collection of the necessary history and a thorough examination of the eyeball. In this case, a table of visual acuity is necessarily used, which helps the doctor determine the level of deviation. Then the patient is assigned a comprehensive examination, which involves a series of procedures.
- Ophthalmoscopy. It implies a careful study of the state of the retina, fundus and optic nerve with the help of a special device - an ophthalmoscope. In this case, the ophthalmologist can also detect diseases of the lens.
- Biomicroscopy. This is the name of a non-contact eye examination using a slit lamp. Special equipment makes it possible to examine in detail the anterior chamber of the eye anddetermine an accurate diagnosis.
- Visometry. This technique involves the use of a table of visual acuity, which shows signs, shapes and letters of different sizes. This technique allows you to determine the quality of vision.
- The study of accommodation. By focusing light rays on the retina, you can explore the ability of the organ to focus on a specific object located at different distances.
- Refractometry. The examination determines the refraction of the cornea to detect hypermetropia and myopia.
- Skiascopy. The study is to identify the functionality of the lens and cornea. The technique makes it possible to determine the presence of a defect in a child or a mentally unhe althy person. Usually used in cases where other diagnostic methods are not possible.
- Tonometry. The procedure consists in measuring intraocular pressure and assessing the level of deformation of the eyeball.
When examining children's eyes, ophthalmologists often refer them to other specialists, such as a pediatrician and pediatric neurologist, to confirm a suspected diagnosis.
Features of treatment
After the diagnosis, the ophthalmologist will prescribe you a complex therapy for false myopia, which will include:
- drug treatment with eye drops that dilate the pupil and relax the ciliary muscle fibers;
- physiotherapy treatments;
- hardware treatment;
- special therapeutic exercises foreye.
Hardware treatment involves the use of different techniques. Your doctor may recommend:
- electrical stimulation of the eyes with current pulses;
- liquidation of spasm with the use of Sidorenko glasses - they do electrovacuum massage and improve blood flow in the eyes;
- acupuncture improves visual acuity and stops the development of the pathological process;
- Magnetotherapy involves the stimulation of the ciliary muscles with a special electromagnet with alternating current;
- specially designed computer programs help train the ciliary muscle;
- electrophoresis makes it possible to quickly deliver medicines to the optical sphere of the eye.
In eye clinics, laser therapy is deservedly considered the most effective way to treat false myopia. It helps stimulate the ciliary muscle and speeds up metabolic processes. Laser therapy quite quickly and effectively eliminates the spasm of accommodation. In addition, this procedure is considered absolutely safe, since a special neon laser is used in the process.
If during the examination in a child or an adult a relationship between spasm of accommodation and pathologies of the spine was revealed, massage sessions of the collar area and back, as well as therapeutic exercises, must be prescribed.
Home Therapy
In addition to the basic methods of treating false myopia, additional therapy can be carried out at home.
- Physical education. Cycling and swimming are particularly effective in this diagnosis.
- Alternating ordinary gymnastics with visual loads.
- Massage of the neck, head, spine and collar area. Such sessions help improve blood flow, relieve fatigue, and improve vision. No less useful is a delicate eye massage.
- Organization of the water regime, balanced nutrition. At the same time, the menu must include foods containing vitamins E, A, C and luteins. The diet should be rich in fresh vegetables, fruits and fish.
- For homework, the child should choose a table and chair that will match his height. It is equally important to equip high-quality lighting. The light should come from the left of the table and be diffused. Although it is much better to place the table as close to the window as possible.
Compliance with these simple rules can significantly improve the patient's vision and well-being, as well as prevent the development of pathology in the future.
Drug therapy
It is possible to eliminate the spasm of accommodation with the help of special preparations. They should only be prescribed exclusively by an ophthalmologist, who will take into account the characteristics of the disease and the patient's contraindications for the use of certain drugs. Eye drops effectively relax the ciliary muscles, due to which vision can be completely normalized. Drug therapy can last from two weeks to a month.
- "Atropine". Instructions for use of eye drops reads: the drug can beuse 3-4 times during the day. The tool is highly effective - the spasm disappears in just a couple of minutes after instillation. The effect of the drug can last 2 weeks. But according to the instructions for use, Atropine eye drops, if used too often, lead to the development of side effects: redness and dryness of the cornea, fog before the eyes, constriction of the pupils.
- "Irifrin". Gently affects the ciliary muscle. A drug with a low concentration of the active substance can be used to treat children from birth. "Irifrin" promotes the expansion of the pupil and the formation of intraocular fluid.
- "Midriacil". Quite an effective drug that brings the effect in just 5-10 minutes after instillation. The action of the drops lasts for 6-7 hours. True, the cost of the drug reaches 350 rubles, while its analogues are several times cheaper. For example, the price of Tropikamid eye drops is only 120 rubles, and Midrum is about 160 rubles. Both drugs are analogues of Midriacil. All the remedies described effectively eliminate the spasm of accommodation and inflammation in adults and children.
- "Cyclomed". It has a delicate, but quite effective effect. The effect is felt approximately 15-20 minutes after instillation. With a spasm of accommodation, it is recommended to use it three times a day. The drug works for 8-12 hours.
In addition to eye drops, patients with falsefor myopia, mineral-vitamin complexes and drugs containing lutein are prescribed without fail.
This is the standard treatment regimen used in most modern eye clinics.
Useful gymnastics
He althy set of exercises to relieve eye strain and speed up the healing process.
- Stick a small red or black circle with a diameter of up to 2 cm on the window. Move away from the opening by 30-40 cm and start the exercise. Alternately shift your gaze from the circle to the landscape outside the window, located no closer than 5 meters.
- Alternately press your fingers on the upper eyelid of each eye, lingering for a few seconds.
- Open and close your eyes every 5-7 seconds.
- Visually draw patterns, numbers and letters with your eyes.
- Look at the tip of your index finger with your hand outstretched. Then slowly begin to zoom in until you see double.
- Blink rapidly for two minutes.
