Blinking is a natural movement that is generated in the eyes to protect them from dryness, strong light or as a shield for some outdoor objects. Maintains natural tearing and cleanses our eyes. But what happens when your child blinks his eyes a lot?
If you notice that the blinking is excessive always we can refer it to a passing tick, but on many occasions you can subjecting the problem to an eye exam to determine where the motif is.
Why does my child blink his eyes a lot?
Exaggerated blinking is when it happens and is denoted by an unusual movement. It usually occurs in both eyes, but it may manifest itself in only one. In both cases it can even be associated with other types of movements or tics in the head, face or other part of your body, although we will see what the reasons could be.
- When you have the sensation of dry eyes and lack of moisture. Inciting blinking causes us to lubricate the eye with tears and may cause excessive blinking. It can also be caused by some kind of allergy that makes the eye drier, or by some object embedded in the tabs, deviated eyelashes, inflammation of the eyelid or conjunctivitis.
- For poorly corrected refractive errors, since if glasses are required due to myopia problems, tremors may appear in the eyes. Strabismus has also been one of the cases that triggers it.
- In other cases it may be by taking stimulant or caffeinated drinks. And in other events, it may be due to inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, caused by a viral infection.
- If excessive blinking is associated with vocal tics, coughing, or throat clearing the doctor may refer the case to a neurologist, as it may be a symptom of the Tourette syndrome.
Anxiety and stress is the most recurrent case
Stress can trigger a tic habit. It may cause a tremor in the eyes produced by being nervous, since the child may be mismanaging stress or anxiety.
It generally occurs in children associated with an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or obsessive compulsive disorder, even some medications for this purpose can trigger this fact. A specialist must make a diagnosis to identify what is causing it. If this is the cause and it is not due to any ocular cause, the doctor or psychologist will determine which is the correct treatment to control anxiety and end the nervous tic.
How is excessive blinking diagnosed?
If there is great concern on the part of the parents, due to excessive blinking, the child should be taken to have an eye exam. The specialist will perform an examination of the eye with the help of a slit lamp to look for if there is a problem with the cornea.
It will also search if they exist visual acuity problems. Strabismus is also another cause that can cause blinking. It will be sought that there are no certainties, since although it may not seem so at first glance, many children do not give evidence that they have it.
What treatments can be created?
The child will be explored and depending on whether he proceeds to a solution will undergo a type of treatment. You have to know that most children create this type of blinking as an involuntary actas it is a way to relax tensions.
In the events of nervous tics the doctor may not give it much importance since most of them are neurological pathologies that usually resolve spontaneously. Many of these cases usually last from several months to more than a year. But if it is the case that this flickering exists and affects your daily life, a diagnosis will have to be created with psychiatric treatment.
If the problem derives from conjunctivitis, it will be treated with some eye solution. If your child has a vision problem due to blurred vision, he or she will need some glasses to correct vision. However, better monitoring will be done in case you are habitually red, very sensitive to light or have other bothersome eye symptoms. If you want more information about "tics" you can read us at following link