San José, Costa Rica. February, 2016.

Visual health is achieved through prevention, diagnosis and treatment of refractive, muscular deficiencies and diseases. Through optometry, contact and ophthalmic lenses (glasses) are designed, calculated and adapted for a correct vision.

According to Dr. Lucía Sibaja Collado, optometrist at the Clínica Bíblica Hospital, “the most common eyesight problems that optometry covers have to do with the different refractive deficiencies such as myopia, astigmatism, hypermetropia and presbyopia.”

In children, myopia and astigmatism are the most common ailments. In addition, they are hereditary.

Eyesight deficiencies in children limit their capability to learn to read and write. If the child does not present any symptomatology, the hypermetropia is not corrected optically. If he/she had should have some symptomatology, it is better to have the relevant optical correction.

“Children who do not see the blackboard well are going to lag behind in the normal learning process, and this will bring consequences in other contexts such as the emotional and self-esteem area,” said Dr. Sibaja.

Treatments

All cases are different. Which is why each individual patient has to be assessed in order to be able to offer a better diagnosis and a better treatment. Depending on the type of vision deficiency, the patient may choose several options.

“It is important that parents know that the plastic age for vision (the stage in which the child´s vision develops adequately and which ends when they are 8 years-old) is determinant, since the best vision one is able to have in this stage, is the vision with which the child will live for the rest of his/her life. Therefore, eyesight controls at these early ages are determinant,” concluded the optometrist.

In order to obtain further information or request an appointment in any of the medical specialties with the best doctors of Costa Rica, please contact the private hospital Clínica Bíblica at telephone number 2522-1000, at email citas@clinicabiblica.com or vía chat on the website www.clinicabiblica.com