Why does my child have blurred vision?

According to Pierre-François Kaeser, a university lecturer and clinical researcher, director of the paediatric strabology and ophthalmology unit at the Jules-Gonin Ophthalmic Hospital, it is very rare for children to complain of blurred vision. A child will adapt to anything that can change in his vision, and blurred vision is not obvious. Children do not know what good visual acuity means and, as a result, they do not know what blurred vision is either. This means that the child will usually realise that he has blurred vision or a visual defect simply because he sees differently from his peers. 

How can I detect if my child’s vision is blurred? 

For example, this can happen at school. The child notices that his peers can see the board clearly and that he cannot read it as easily as the others. This situation is common when both eyes see a little less well. 

But if only one eye sees less well, this visual problem can go completely unnoticed. The child may then realise that he does not see the same thing with both eyes, for example in a game during which he puts on a pirate patch and covers an eye.

The teacher may also notice that the child has difficulty concentrating for a long time. He then complains of headaches, or that his near or far vision is lacking. 

This great adaptability of the child explains why systematic examinations of children’s vision are essential to detect a vision problem. They are normally extremely well done by paediatricians or ophthalmologists. 

It is therefore up to parents to be vigilant. Some children may have stinging, watering or red eyes. 

Why does my child have blurred vision? 

If a child complains of blurred vision, it can be due to several reasons:

• If the vision is blurred at a distance, this could be a symptom of myopia. In this case, the eyeball is a little too long. Therefore, the image does not form at the level of the retina, which is the film that lines the back of the eye and which is used to collect images to send them to the brain. The image will then form in front of the eye, which explains why the child will see blurred at a distance, but clear at close range.
• The opposite of myopia is called hyperopia. In this pathology, the eye is not too long, rather it is too short. In this case, the child may complain of blurred vision close up, while from a distance he sees very well. This is a fairly rare complaint in children, because they have a great ability to focus to compensate for this hyperopia. The hyperopic child will rather tend to complain of headaches after a lot of visual work, after school for example, with eye fatigue, and a tight feeling in the eyes. These are typical complaints of hyperopia.
• There is a third refractive disorder called astigmatism. The latter is related to the fact that the window of the eye, the cornea, is not perfectly round, like a football for example. Rather, it can be compared to a rugby ball with a curvature of one axis that is different from that of the other axis. This disorder means that the images are always a little blurred or slightly distorted, both at a distance and close-up. 

In conclusion, the main cause of blurred vision is a refractive disorder: either myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism or a combination of these visual problems.

What should I do if my child has blurred vision?

To find out whether your child has astigmatism, myopia, hyperopia or other vision problems, it is advisable to make an appointment with an eye care professional to have the health of your child’s eyes checked. 

An ophthalmologist will be able, with the help of an examination, to understand the vision and identify if the child has a visual impairment. In the event that a disorder is detected, they may prescribe glasses with adapted corrective lenses to allow the child to have correct vision. 

Do you want to learn more about different visual impairments in children? Please do not hesitate to consult our pages on strabismus, amblyopia, or congenital glaucoma.