Eyes and Vision – Children’s Eyecare
An introduction to Children’s Eyecare.
Your health visitor, your GP, your paediatrician, and your local optician are all on hand to help you care for your children’s eyes and vision – However,your child’s eye care is down to you the parent or guardian ! Don’t rely on school vision screening, or for someone else to notice a problem – take your child for eye tests.
Family History is very important, as many eye conditions can be inherited.
EVEN IF THERE IS NO PROBLEM, we recommend that you take your child to an optician at 3YRS, or before they start school. The Optician will make a recommendation about further visits, but certainly pay another visit at 8YRS and 11 YEARS old. There is no cost involved, it is paid for by the NHS.
Although all Optometrists are qualified to test children, not all of them like it or are comfortable with Children, so try to find one that is ‘child friendly’ ! Have a look at their glasses – is there a large Children’s selection? Ask the staff, or better still ask your friends for a recommendation.
An Opticians eye test is more comprehensive than tests performed by the School nurse, health visitor, as Opticians have the facilities to spot things that can be missed by screening. At the eye test, the Optician examines the health of the eyes and checks to see if glasses are required. Early use of glasses can prevent further problems in adult life. An Optician will not prescribe glasses without good reason.
Modern Children’s glasses are very stylish with a large range available, and being subsidized by the NHS are very affordable, with many supplied completely free.
Children’s glasses must only be fitted by a qualified Dispensing Optician.
What should you look out for?
Health:
Watering and Sticky eyes are common. Keep them clean and avoid cross contamination – use fresh tissues as wipes and discard after wiping each eye. If it seems severe or itchy with redness, contact your GP to investigate possible infection. Wet eyes may indicate blocked ducts which can be treated by massage but be advised by your GP.
If Childrens eyes are red after playing in the garden – this may be a common allergic reaction, part and parcel to building immunity. As long as it resolves within a few hours, no treatment is required.
Conjunctivitis is a highly contagious, and uncomfortable condition with watering and sticky eyes that will generally self resolve after 4 to 5 days. There are different forms of this condition, if it is ongoing or particularly uncomfortable, then a visit to your doctor may be in order. We would advise against self medicating with over the counter remedies.
Blepharitis is a common eyelid condition that can flare up requiring some extra hygiene procedures, we are happy to advise, as will your Doctor.
Vision Difficulties:
Anecdotal research indicates that older babies may not seem to use their hands so much, or may lean back. If older children seem to sit too close to the television, get headaches or lose interest in things at a distance – check it out.
If you see signs of a squint, an eye turning in (or out) then have it checked out. An Optician will be able to help.
Eye development:
Baby’s eyes are generally blue. Their final eye colour is developed at 9 to 12 months. Brown eyes are dominant, but there are always exceptions to rules !
Babies should be able to follow a slow moving object at about 3 months but there are always those that seem faster (or slower !) so do not panic unnecessarily.
Babies colour vision is poor until about 3 months. They are much more interested in contrast and shadow. There are many baby books on the market that consist of bold black and white patterns – they love them !
Colour vision is routinely checked at an eye examination.
If a child is colour defective (8% boys and 0.5% girls are) there is no evidence to suggest that they perform less well at school, but it may affect their career choice.
There is no real treatment for this; however colour filters can sometimes help.
SUNGLASSES
Sunglasses are more important for children than adults, as older eyes can filter out more harmful UV. 80% of your lifetimes UV Damage occurs before age of 20. Children receive approx 3 times the annual dose of UV than the average adult – they are shorter and therefore look up more, they also tend to spend more time outdoors. Sunglasses or Photochromic lenses do NOT cause photophobia or aversion to sunlight, and do not make eyes more sensitive. ONLY buy good quality ones from reputable outlets. The european standards are EN1836/1997
PARENTS
If you rely on glasses or contact lenses, make sure you have spares!
