What does it mean to roll your eyes. Serious pathologies require complex treatment. When to see a specialist

Most new parents are in for a lot of surprises with the appearance of a baby, including such, at first glance, a terrible sight as rolling eyes.

Physiological causes

Eye rolling is considered a normal physiological process in a newborn, but it can also be a sign dangerous diseases. It is necessary to study the reasons why the child rolls his eyes in order to properly respond to this phenomenon and, if necessary, consult a doctor.

Immediately after birth, some body systems of the newborn are not yet fully developed, their final formation occurs during the first year of life. This is also true for the organs of vision. Infants are underdeveloped oculomotor muscles, small size eyeball, underdeveloped retina, weak neural connection optic nerve with optic nuclei in the brain. Parents themselves may notice this, since the newborn is not able to focus on objects. This ability, as well as the friendly movement of the eyeballs, begins to form by the end of the second month of life. The functionality of the eyes in a child develops gradually in the process of strengthening the connections between the organs of vision and the brain.

Physiological Causes of Rolling Eyes Is Weakness eye muscles, which should keep the eyeball in its normal position, as well as poor development nerve centers responsible for their control. Since the muscles are controlled by the brain, it is most common to see a newborn roll their eyes when they fall asleep, and this control is weakened.

Eye rolling - normal condition child in borderline sleep state

Normally, when falling asleep, you can see the following: the baby blinks often, rubs his eyes and nose, pulls his ears, looks for his mother's chest, yawns, his head collapses, the child rolls his eyes up. You can also see that when the baby sleeps, his eyelids open slightly and part of the protein is visible.

Even in adults, volitional rolling of the eyes up leads to the reflex onset of sleep. Sometimes this method is recommended for those who have difficulty falling asleep.

If a newborn baby rolls his eyes, but he does not have other unusual symptoms, then this condition is normal, corresponding to the level of development of his nervous system.

Pathological causes

However, if the unusual position of the eyeballs in the baby is not associated with sleep and the child is older than three months, then attention should be paid to possible presence other symptoms. A condition is considered dangerous when a newborn baby rolls his eyes down, nystagmus is noted (involuntary small movements of the eyeballs from side to side), nervous tick(fluttering of the eyelids), convulsions and irregular breathing.

At neurological disorders eye rolling accompanied by nystagmus

The reasons for such violations are very serious:

• inflammatory or traumatic injury brain structures such as its pons, labyrinth, cerebellum, medulla and pituitary gland;
• poisoning medicines or toxic substances;
• neuroinfection;
• fever;
• genetic mutations;
• epilepsy or convulsive syndrome;
• hydrocephalic syndrome;
• increased pressure inside the skull;
• disturbance of mental development.

Nervous tension can also be expressed in children in the form of small epileptic seizures - absences. In this state, the baby rolls his eyes and, as it were, "freezes" - all other mental functions (movement, cooing, any reactions) stop. After the attack ends, the child returns to his normal state. Absence can turn into a major epileptic seizure, so you should consult a doctor without waiting for it.

The eyes can also wrong position if the child has a sore eyeball or orbit with various ophthalmic inflammatory diseases, adenoids, sinusitis, inflammation of the tonsils or otitis media, neuritis of the facial or trigeminal nerve.

In the photo, Graefe's symptom, the iris is directed downwards

An indicative view during pathological rolling takes the eyeball in children with hypertensive-hydrocephalic syndrome. The so-called Graefe's symptom or "setting sun" occurs when the eyeball is turned with the iris down, so that a band of protein is visible above it. This position is caused by brain damage and pressure cerebrospinal fluid accumulated in his ventricles.

However, Graefe's symptom is not accurate. diagnostic sign hydrocephalic syndrome. The reasons that the child rolls his eyes down may be diseases of the pregnant woman, the rapid process of childbirth, birth injury, prematurity or postmaturity, as well as hereditary predisposition. In such cases, Graefe's syndrome may resolve on its own within a few weeks after birth, as soon as nervous system adapt to the new living conditions of the child.

Prevention

Careful and constant observation is one of the most accessible and informative ways to determine if a newborn's eye roll is abnormal. It is necessary to observe the behavioral habits of the baby, note how he behaves before falling asleep, whether he rolls his eyes at other times of the day, whether others are present. neurological symptoms. If the child is premature, then in the first time after birth, he will always be with his eyes rolled up until he reaches the desired level of development.

If alarming symptoms appear, you need to visit a pediatric neurologist, ophthalmologist and otolaryngologist.

Treatment

If treatment is required, then eye rolling of neurological origin is usually prescribed nootropics, drugs that improve the blood supply to the brain, sedative drugs. Complex neurological damage may require endoscopic surgery or surgical neurosurgery.

Often in a person there is a rolling of the eyes, which may be associated with mental and other abnormalities in the body. Sometimes parents watch how a baby of the first month of life rolls his eyes, which does not always indicate pathological process. Such a child requires special control, and if the pathology does not go away, the baby does not sleep well, constantly cries, consciousness is disturbed, then you need to urgently consult a doctor for help. After a comprehensive examination and establishing the source of the problem, the doctor will select necessary treatment to eliminate rolling eyes.

Why does a violation occur?

Often an adult and a child will roll their eyes up and to the side in the background. pathological abnormalities. To impact on similar affliction able the following reasons:

• Diseases of the ENT organs. At inflammatory response in the upper respiratory tract or ears, arise pain in soft facial tissues, which can cause rolling of the eyeballs.
• Manifestation of a nervous tic. With a similar condition in a child and an adult, the eyelid often twitches and the pupil rolls. A similar violation is often recorded in babies who are from 4 to 6 years old. At right approach the patient manages to overcome the problem on their own. A nervous tic can manifest itself against the background of emotional overstrain or drug therapy.
• Increased intracranial pressure. When strongly high rates the child rolls his eyes up, and vomiting and strabismus are also observed.
• epileptic attack. If parents notice that the baby tilts his head back strangely, rolls his eyes, his eyelid twitches and he smiles strangely, this often serves as a signal of the progression of epilepsy.
• Dream. When the baby rolls his eyes when falling asleep or at the moment of awakening, then parents should not worry. This condition in childhood is normal.

AT severe cases increased intracranial pressure, a lumpy state is possible, which threatens with temporary or permanent loss of vision.

How is it manifested?

An illness caused by an attack of epilepsy is accompanied by additional symptoms such as jaw clenching.

In pathology, the patient's eyes often roll up, while sometimes breathing stops for a while. Deviation can affect one visual organ or a person involuntarily shakes the eyeball in different directions with two eyes. If the violation is caused by an epileptic seizure, then the following additional symptoms are possible:

• the appearance of foam from the mouth;
• throwing the head back;
• brief lethargy and blurred consciousness;
• strong clenching of teeth;
• convulsions;
• pupil dilation;
• rare breathing;
• involuntary urination;
• occasionally the patient loses consciousness.

Pathological eye rolling in adults with high intracranial pressure is often accompanied by nausea, vomiting. If you do not turn to a doctor for help in time, then a complete or partial loss of vision is likely, which cannot be corrected. When a newborn involuntarily rolls his eyes, no additional pathological symptoms are noted. At the same time, it is important to monitor the child's condition, and if other unpleasant symptoms or not passing them after a month, it is urgent to see a pediatrician.

Features in the baby

Normal indicators in a newborn

Often the baby rolls the pupils, lying on his back, in the first days of life or a few months after birth. Such a condition does not indicate a pathology if it is not accompanied by any other symptoms and does not cause concern. The reason why the baby turns his eyes up or down is because the muscles of the visual organs are weak. The baby also has difficulty focusing on a particular object, but as it develops, the problems go away on their own. Often a newborn rolls his eyes when he falls asleep, which should not cause alarm in parents. In this case, the norm is the location of the pupils at the top, and not at the bottom.

Pathological causes in children under one year old

When infant lowers his eyes involuntarily down, then this may signal serious violation requiring emergency treatment. If a baby who is a month old or more has squirrels strongly rolled in one direction or another, then influence similar condition such a disease is capable: If a child has signs of an illness, you should immediately contact a specialist to identify the causes of the deviation.

If the child lowers his eyes down or constantly rolls them up, while strangely rotating his head, you should immediately see a specialist. Such manifestations can signal a serious violation. The specialist performs visual inspection damaged visual organs. For staging accurate diagnosis and finding out the cause of the problem is required to go through comprehensive examination, including laboratory tests and hardware diagnostics.

Often in babies infancy you can see the rolling of the eyes. If a we are talking about children under the age of one month, this situation can be considered normal. If we talk about older children or adults, this condition is already considered a deviation and requires the attention of a specialist.

Rolling eyes in babies can be a sign of serious pathologies

Why do eyes roll

Rolling eyes in a child under the age of one month comes from the fact that the baby does not know how to focus his gaze on a particular point: the muscles of the eyes are still weak, their coordination has not been formed. When the baby turns one month old, as a rule, the problem disappears by itself. If this does not happen, it is urgent to show the child to the doctor, as this phenomenon may indicate serious pathologies child's body.

The causes of rolling eyes in babies can be different. But most often it becomes a consequence:

• epilepsy. In this case, the disease is not always accompanied by convulsions and the appearance of foam from the mouth. In some cases, the child is diagnosed with the presence of absences - short-term seizures, a symptom of which is the rolling of the eyeballs;
• increased pressure inside the skull;
• disorders of the nervous system.

Rolling eyes in adults can be associated with diseases such as hydrocephalus, epilepsy, and nervous tics.

When treatment is needed

If a baby less than a month old rolls its eyes, it is physiological norm. Treatment is not required here. However, training the eye muscles will not be superfluous. The baby can be shown bright objects. The child will follow them with his eyes, strengthening the eye apparatus.

If the problem persists, you need to visit an ophthalmologist who can prescribe special exercises for the eyes, physiotherapy to strengthen the eye muscles

If the pathology is not associated with weakness of the eye muscles, a consultation with a neurologist will be required. After all, an absent look, accompanied by a rolling of the eyes, may be evidence of serious neurological diseases. In this case, the child or adult will need to undergo a series of examinations, only after that you can start treatment.

So, we found out that for babies, rolling their eyes is considered the norm. However, if we are talking about older children or adults, then this phenomenon may indicate the presence serious problems with health requiring immediate treatment.

Many parents start to panic when they see uncharacteristic movements in the child, especially with the eyes. After all, it is very difficult to understand whether eye rolling is a disease or a harmless feature inherent in a baby. For example, why does a child roll them up?

First, we note the following point: parents do not need to be embarrassed to ask the advice of a pediatrician who, if necessary, will refer the child to the appropriate specialist. Tell the doctor in detail about the frequency of rolling the eye in a dream or while awake, and how the child feels. The phenomenon can be both pathological and inherent in a certain childhood. Only occasionally does it indicate a serious illness.

Up

For a full-term baby up to one month old, the phenomenon of rolling the eyes up is a variant of the norm. Especially often the symptom is observed at bedtime, when the newborn is not yet sleeping and is at the borderline between sleep and wakefulness.

Rolling babies is also often a sign of illness. Particularly alarming is the condition that appeared after the infection suffered by the baby, accompanied by fever.

For example, an infection sometimes provokes the appearance of a rare hereditary disease- paroxysmal tonic look up. Although the disease does not affect children's body strong impact, it often causes delayed development and impaired coordination of movements.

During illness, parents should surround their baby with special care, protect him from tension, infections and nervous shocks, provide comfortable and deep sleep. By the age of five, children usually outgrow the disease.

Way down

When a baby rolls his eyes down, this phenomenon should be regarded as a manifestation of the disease, you need to come to an appointment with a neurologist. Very often, this condition indicates high blood pressure.

Also causes may be: Tourette's syndrome, tics, neurosis obsessive states(an attempt to reduce nervous tension, repeating any actions) and Graefe's symptom, which will be discussed later.

Graefe's symptom

Back in the 19th century, scientists discovered Graefe's syndrome, which is informally called the "setting sun" syndrome.

Often, newborns are diagnosed with Graefe's symptom. It manifests itself in the following: upper eyelid the child is peeling off the iris, this effect becomes noticeable when lowering the eyes down; between the iris and the eyelid is clearly visible white stripe sclera. Eyes roll down, reminiscent of the setting sun.

The symptom usually resolves with aging without additional treatment. But the baby should be under the supervision of a pediatric neurologist for several years.

Sometimes, to relieve the symptom, the doctor prescribes diuretics, recommends swimming and massage. In severe cases, surgery or bypass surgery may be required.

In children older than one year

Up

Why does the child roll his eyes? For example, he has diseases of the hearing organs and upper respiratory tract (inflammation of the sinuses, tonsils, tonsils, otitis), pain in soft tissues faces. Then rolling is considered an expression of discomfort due to pain syndrome. Accordingly, the rolling of the eye will stop as soon as it passes.

Sometimes parents of children aged four to ten suddenly see: the child began to close his eyes, roll them to the side and up, blink frequently.

Everyone reacts to a symptom differently. Someone does not attach importance, thinking: the child is grimacing, others begin to scold the child, control his behavior, considering that squinting is a sign of some kind of pathology.

Usually such "blind-blindness", rolling the eyes to the side can be a manifestation of a tic. It is impossible to neglect such behavior or scold the child, because squinting is a signal of problems with the child's psyche.

Nervous tic

A nervous tic sometimes appears in absolutely every child, but not all parents know how to help him get rid of the disease on his own. But with the right behavior of mom and dad, in 80% of children, tic disappears without a trace by the age of ten.

Note the following: children who sometimes have twitches and tics cannot be called mentally ill.

There are the following causes of a tick in a child:

• Nervous tension. Usually, children start to get nervous when there is a change in the home environment, for example, to kindergarten, school. Right now, the first symptoms of a nervous tic are likely. The causes of the disease can be conflicts with the guys, communication problems, a strict teacher, educator. The trigger for the development of ticks are quarrels of parents with a child, as well as too strict upbringing, fear, loss of a loved one, and other nervous shocks are possible.
• Heredity. If relatives even several generations ago had given deviation, then there is a high probability that its manifestations in the baby.
• Rolling to the side, involuntary blinking may also appear after taking medicinal medicines due to diseases.
• Child's head injury.
• Uncontrolled TV viewing long sitting at computer.
• Wrong nutrition.
• Sedentary lifestyle.

Although a nervous tic is not usually serious illness, the child must be registered with a neurologist and undergo an examination on time.

Way down

Parents who notice a child older than one year rolling their eyes down should suspect an increase in pressure.

At very high intracranial pressure the child will vomit, his eyes will roll down or will mow strongly. There is a danger of a coma, as well as short-term and even permanent loss of vision.

Epilepsy

Close attention should be paid to the rolling of the eyes when falling asleep in a child older than 5 years. Especially with his head thrown back, and at such moments he does not react to any stimuli. At 5 years of age similar symptoms can talk about the development of epilepsy in a child.

It is accompanied by seizures. Absence - a weak epileptic seizure - manifests itself in rolling up and in a short "slowdown", suspension of all higher processes of the child's psyche. The kid “freezes”, his eyes begin to roll up, after which he “dies off” and behaves as if nothing had happened.

Sometimes the absence passes into a strong epileptic seizure. The child first rolls his eyes, twitches, shakes his head, after which it happens seizure. Seizures are the most serious degree of epilepsy.

epileptic seizure

What does an epileptic seizure look like? Before the child begins to shake his head, shake convulsively, he has a prodrome - irritability and anxiety.

The cry of the child testifies to the beginning of the attack, then he loses consciousness, and an involuntary contraction of the muscles of the body begins. The child rolls his eyes up and clench his teeth hard. He begins to breathe less often, the pupils dilate. After occur clonic convulsions, defecation and urination.

As a result, the child falls asleep, and then does not remember anything. Note: epileptic seizures usually repeated periodically, and at the same time of day.

What are the actions of parents in case of an epileptic seizure?

• Do not panic. Parents need to follow the course of the seizure, measure its duration, and then tell the doctor about it in detail.
• Turn the child's head to the side, prevent the tongue from falling back and ensure that saliva flows easily.
• In no case do not open the child's jaws with a spoon, finger, or other object!
• Don't put medicine in his mouth.
• When vomiting, make sure that the child does not roll over, but lies on its side.
• Until the end of the attack, be with the child all the time.
• If the child falls asleep after the convulsions, you do not need to wake him up.

It is important to note that epilepsy must be treated without fail, because with each new attack the disease only gets worse. Epilepsy is fraught with a slowdown in mental and psychomotor development. Only timely therapy provides speedy recovery Therefore, do not postpone a visit to the doctor.

In a dream

• Babies can sleep with their eyes open. In fact, eyes roll back in sleep due to weakness of the eye muscles. Be quiet while the baby is sleeping. From the noise, he can slightly open his eyes, and then fall asleep in this state.
• In an older child, rolling eyes in a dream can be observed when he has not yet fallen asleep, or, on the contrary, is preparing to wake up.

As a preventive measure, you need:

• Train your baby with colorful toys and objects. They will help the child develop normal vision. Frequent classes will help to adjust and focus the baby's vision, in the future the efforts made will have a positive effect on his visual system.
• Do gymnastics for the eyes: rotate your eyes in different directions, blink often, close your eyes tightly.
• Engage in the pool and give the child a massage.
• Choose bright rattles for a newborn: they will help not only in the development of normal vision and hearing, but also in concentration.
• When rolling the eyes due to physical muscle weakness, then you need to do physiotherapy, massage and perform a set of exercises.

Summary

If a child rolls his eyes up, then usually the phenomenon is not a pathology or a symptom of any disease. Especially with regards to newborns, because they have not yet learned to control their eyes. Older children may simply have fun with this behavior.

Do not forget: as the child grows, such manifestations should disappear. In the case where the symptom persists, or you think of eye rolling as more than just a childish prank and a phenomenon inherent in a certain age, then refer to pediatric neurologist. He will examine the child and tell you if there is any cause for concern.

Sometimes the behavior of a child can seriously alarm parents. For example, a child rolls his eyes. When should you start to worry, and when should you be alarmed and show the child to a specialist?

In order to understand this issue, it is necessary to determine what is the norm and what is pathology.

On the this moment there is no consensus about the fact that the child rolls his eyes. In the event that this happens constantly, then you need to watch your child. Put correct diagnosis and only a doctor can prescribe a course of treatment. It is far from always that a child makes such strange movements with his eyes, because he likes it that way. Unfortunately, in some cases, this behavior of the child indicates the existence of a serious problem.

At small child, who is not yet a month old, there is no coordination of the eye muscles. Therefore, it is very difficult for him to focus his eyes on the subject. Therefore, if a baby rolls his eyes, then this can be considered a normal condition.

If after a month the problem has not been eliminated, then this may already be a deviation from the norm. month old baby is already able to focus his eyes on one object, and he has already developed coordination of the muscles of the eyes. If this is not the case, then most likely there is a deviation in development.

As a rule, the reasons that a child rolls his eyes can be as follows:

• muscle tone is unevenly distributed;
• there are problems with intracranial pressure;
• likely to have epilepsy;
• Graefe's syndrome.

A characteristic sign of Graefe's syndrome is rolling the eyes down. In the event that the baby rolls his eyes up when he falls asleep, then this is his idiosyncrasy. Very often children fall asleep like this. Similar pathologies are extremely rare.

However, if this happens too often in a child, then you should contact pediatrician, or show the baby to a neurologist. In the event that the child has any pathology, then therapy or therapeutic exercises will be prescribed. Often, uneven muscle tone of the eyes leads to such problems. Therefore, the baby rolls his eyes up before going to bed. It will not be superfluous to consult an oculist.

When is it necessary to see a doctor?

If the problem persists after the child is one month old, then he should be observed very carefully. Often this symptom indicates the presence of a serious pathology in the baby. Therefore, if observed the following symptoms then you need to go to the doctor.

• The child's behavior became restless. He often cries, screams, starts to twitch, and his eyes roll.
• Kid over 3 one month old but the symptom persisted.
• There is weakness of the eye muscles.
• Suspicion of increased intracranial pressure.
• development of epilepsy.

Such diseases require observation and treatment by a doctor. Moreover, if the child is already six months old, and his eyes roll up, and there are all of the listed symptoms, then most likely there are health problems.

What is special about infants?

The eyes of any person are complex. it important organ vision. The muscles that are still developing in babies are responsible for the work of the eyes. Children infancy able to focus on an object closer to a month. As a rule, as a gymnastics for the eyes, it is recommended to do simple exercises. They consist in observing the child for bright toys and objects.

However, if the baby was born prematurely, that is, prematurely, then he may roll his eyes. Most often, newborns roll their eyes when they want to sleep. This is due to the fact that the child is between wakefulness and sleep. This behavior is not pathological and therefore should not cause concern.

In the event that the eyes roll down, and a strip is observed between the eyelid and the protein white color, then the doctor makes a diagnosis - Graefe's symptom. It will gradually disappear with age. You just need to follow the doctor's recommendations. However, in the event that the child has not only a problem with the eyes, but also:

• throws back his head;
• there is astigmatism;
• spit up profusely;
• crying for a long time.

That, this is already a sign that there is a pathology in the child.

Help your child roll their eyes up

First of all, you need to be examined by the following specialists:

• pediatrician;
• neuropathologist;
• ophthalmologist

The course is often physiotherapy exercises. In addition, it is necessary to observe these specialists.

Do not let the situation take its course and hope that everything will pass by itself. If this is a pathology, then as the child grows older, it will only intensify. In addition, it is impossible to make a correct diagnosis and prescribe the necessary treatment at home. Perhaps we are talking about violations of the central nervous system, which is fraught with serious problems.

Often a course can help. special gymnastics, which is prescribed for children with vision problems. Do therapeutic gymnastics difficult with a small child. However, with an older child, this can be turned into just a game.

Many have seen a photo on the Internet where the popular actor Robert Downey Jr. rolls his eyes. If the child does not want to do gymnastics, play with him, show photos where the eyes roll. You can start with Tony Stark's character rolling his eyes up.

How physical therapy can help a child

Often the doctor diagnoses "physical weakness of the eye muscles." In this case, in order to strengthen the muscles of the eyes, you need to do special exercises. In addition, the course of treatment will include physiotherapy, massage. By following the recommendations of the doctor, you can eliminate the problem.

Most often, treatment is carried out in a clinic or at home. You also need to exercise regularly at home. In this case, the symptoms will gradually disappear. It is useful to visit the pool with a child. Most often, the complex of physiotherapy exercises includes rotations eyeballs, you need to look up, down, or sideways.

As a "simulator" any bright toy that the child likes is suitable. Regular exercise will strengthen the muscles of the eyes, and eliminate vision problems in the future. Most often, the course of treatment is six months, after which the symptoms disappear.