Pseudosquint

Recently, Nadine's Pseudosquint seems to be worse. It's a lot more frequent, so much so that a few people have pointed it out to Daddy and Mummy. So we sent an email to Dr Julian Theng, the eye specialist whom we consulted about a year ago, with a couple of recent photos of Nadine.

Dr Theng replied promptly to say he still thinks it's just a Pseudosquint and nothing to be concerned with. But of course we can bring Nadine to him for another consultation if we want to.

Daddy then went online to do some research, and this is what he found out:

Pseudosquint (pseudostrabismus) is the appearance of a squint when the eyes are actually straight.

When you look at your child, it may look as if one of his/her eyes is turning inwards or outwards, but the eyes may in fact be straight.

What causes Pseudosquint?

Pseudosquint is caused by a child’s facial appearance.

This may be due to the width of the bridge of the nose, excess skin around the nose or the distance between the eyes.

Sometimes the shape of the face/eyes may add to this appearance.

Will my child always look like this?

No. Usually, this appearance improves with age, as the bridge of the nose narrows and the folds of the eyelid skin disappear.

How can I tell the difference?

If you shine a light on your child’s eyes, you will be able to see a reflection on the front surface of the pupils (black part in the middle of each eye).

If the eyes are straight, the light reflection will be in the same place in each eye. A child with pseudosquint will have these normal reflections.

If there is a squint, the reflections will be in a different place in each eye.

It is a good idea to look for the reflections on photographs of your child.

He then examined a number of Nadine's photos, and found that the reflections are always in the same place. Heng ah! So it is a Pseudosquint!