The eye is among the most injured organs with a rate of 10-15% among all body traumas. One third of these injuries occur in childhood. Children are more prone to eye accidents than adults when exploring their surroundings. Among the causes of eye accidents, the wrong choice of toys comes to the fore. This can cause irreversible vision problems.
With the school holidays entering the semester break, children spend most of this period at home due to the coronavirus. One of the biggest dangers waiting for children in such periods is home accidents, which are among the important health problems all over the world. Time spent at home also increases the frequency of home accidents. Eye accidents have a great place among home accidents. Children, especially children aged 0-7, are on the move more often, trying to explore their surroundings and do not have the skills to protect themselves. This group of children is at increased risk of exposure to eye trauma.
Door handles are dangerous
Permanent vision damage or loss can be seen in children if eye trauma is not intervened in a short time. Although home accidents can occur at any age, they mostly affect children. Children's height, mobility, curiosity, and sense of discovery can cause accidents. For example, when running while playing games at home, it can pose a danger in terms of door handles, wires of remote control cars, home accidents and eye traumas. Due to their height, children may hit the door handles as a result of carelessness while running around the house. The sharp ends of the antennas of remote control cars can enter the eye when the child bends, or they can damage the eyelid by tearing it. The child, who removes a plate from the table to help his mother, can drop it while putting it on the kitchen counter, and the porcelain piece of the plate may come to the child's eyes and cause serious trauma. Again, a blow to the eye, a blunt trauma caused by throwing a toy can cause irreversible vision loss in the eye. For this reason, it is of great importance that parents take precautions, especially at home.
Eye integrity may be compromised
After such accidents, eyelid rupture, disruption of the integrity of the eye with a sharp or penetrating instrument, retinal edema, retinal tears may occur. If eye damage occurs in children according to the severity of the impact and the integrity of the eye wall is not impaired, it is called closed eye injury. However, the deterioration of the integrity of the eye and the formation of a tear in the eye as a result of a home accident means an open eye injury. Visible objects can cause serious damage and closed-eye injuries without tearing the eye. All these damages can cause retinal edema, subretinal tears, intraocular hemorrhage and retinal detachment.
Screen exposure also damages eyes
Time spent at home can also bring screen exposure. The increase in myopia cases in the world is associated with the increase in the use of mobile phones and tablets. In addition, it is thought that the light emitted from such electronic devices may have negative effects on the retina. Dry eye occurs when you concentrate while looking at the screen and decrease the number of blinks. Therefore, it is important to limit total screen exposure, especially in children. Another type of toy that children have been playing with recently are the ones with laser light. It is thought that such toys may also have negative effects on the retina. Cleaning agents left in the house are another danger for children. With a chemical substance that comes into contact with the eye, serious damage to the front layer of the eye, adhesions and even whitening resulting in vision loss can be seen.
Surgical treatments are at the forefront
When such accidents occur, an ophthalmologist should be consulted as soon as possible. If there is an open injury, that is, if the integrity of the eye is impaired, the tissues should be sutured with surgical intervention. Again, the treatment of eyelid injuries is surgery. What should be considered here is to check whether the tear ducts are cut or not. Since retinal problems are seen in closed injuries, strict follow-up and, if necessary, surgical intervention should be performed. If a chemical substance gets into the eye, the eye area, inner part and inside of the lids should be washed with plenty of water, the substance should be removed from the eye as soon as possible, and an ophthalmologist should be consulted as soon as possible.
Families have a big responsibility
Therefore, parents should be very careful; It is necessary to take precautions at home. Families should consult an ophthalmologist when faced with any eye trauma. It is important to pay attention to the selection of toys, and to place sharp tools and chemical substances out of reach of children.
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