He scrunches up his eyes a lot

Have you noticed that your child tends to frown or squint, even when he is not exposed to the sun or intense light? He may have an eye disorder that requires visual correction. 

Find out below to which visual pathologies this symptom can be attributed.

Why does your child squint?

Frequent scrunching of the eyelids can reflect discomfort or significant visual effort, which can, for example, be linked to blurred vision from an uncorrected refractive disorder (need to wear glasses).

Understand how vision works

To better understand this phenomenon, you can imagine the eye as a camera. The lens then represents the objective and the retina, the film. To focus the lens and ensure that the image is in focus, the lens moves more or less close to the film, depending on whether the object in question is near or far. 

The eye follows the same operation: the lens squashes so as to form a clear image on the retina. Frowning concentrates visual acuity on a precise point by narrowing the pupil. This then increases the amount of light that enters the eye and focuses the image on the retina.

But when you suffer from a visual disorder such as myopia or hyperopia, the eye is then too elongated and the image forms in front of the retina in myopic people. On the other hand, the eye is too short and the image forms behind the retina in hyperopic people. Squinting the eyes concentrates the light ray on the retina and thus improves sharpness.

Does squinting damage vision?

This is a false belief: frowning does not harm eyesight. This can help improve the sharpness of vision in low-light conditions or for distant or very small objects.

However, if this happens often, it is usually a sign of an eye disorder. It is therefore important to treat this anomaly correctly. This is to avoid eye fatigue, headaches and migraines or discomfort. 

Should my child see an ophthalmologist if he frowns a lot?

If you have noticed this symptom, please contact your paediatrician. We advise you to bring your child to an ophthalmologist if he frowns a lot. 

This will allow an eye examination to be carried out for the cause to be diagnosed. If a visual defect is confirmed, treatment may be considered. This is done by means of an optical correction such as glasses or contact lenses to allow the child to regain good vision.

Find out more about children’s visual impairment

You now know the main reasons that cause your child to squint. Do you want to learn more about children’s visual defects? Our ophthalmologists explain different pathologies such as strabismus, congenital glaucoma, dry eye and amblyopia.

And if you want to learn about the means of correction available to treat a myopic, hyperopic or astigmatic child, please visit our dedicated pages.