Sometimes kids need to wear glasses.
Wearing glasses during childhood improved the eyesight, and often is necessary for full, proper eyesight. It's different than for adults, since proper eyesight is developed during childhood.
The main reasons for a child to wear glasses are:
1- Improving eyesight, so the kid will perform better in his daily surrounding.
2- Eye straightening, strabismus prevention (for example, when the eyes "run" towards the nose).
3- Improving eyesight in an eye with a lesser sight ability (lazy eye). This happens when there's a big difference in the refringency (optical strength of the eye). For example, if one eye suffers from myopia, hyperopia or astigmatism, and the other eye doesn't.
4- Protection from external injury in one eye, when the other eye's sight is very defective.
How to check if a child needs glasses in infancy or before he can speak?
The ophthalmologist decides if there is a need for glasses, and he's the one who adjusts them. A child should have a full eye examination, including pupil broadening and a use of a device called retinoscope in order to determine the prescription.
The ophthalmologist, and not the glasses store's stuff, should determine if there's a need for glasses or not.
What are the refringencies, which call for glasses wearing in children?
There are four situations that require glasses wearing to solve the problem, and they are:
1) Myopia (short-sightedness) -
In this state the distant sight is blurry but the up close sight is sharp. That's why the child can read and see close objects well, but experiences difficulty in seeing the blackboard or television shows. Myopia often appears during school period, and increases during adolescence.
2) Hyperopia (long-sightedness) -
Most kids have a slight hyperopia in a young age (and it's normal), but they do not need glasses. That's because kids can overcome a few kinds of long-sightedness, and see better up close and for distance. If the short-sightedness is more extreme and the child can't focus his eyes, his sight will be blurry for all distances. This can lead to a "lazy eye" or a bad sight in both eyes. In such conditions strabismus (cross eye, toward the nose) or headaches will appear, if the child is not treated with glasses on time. Sometimes the hyperopia is less severe as the child grows.
3) Astigmatism –
Astigmatism is caused by irregular curve of the eye's surface, and as a result the child will not see small details, up close or from a distance. Usually, the astigmatism does not change during a lifetime.
4) Anisometropia (eyes' gap in refringency) –
When there's a gap in the refrigency between each eye, a "lazy eye" might develop an eye in which the sight does not fully evolve. Glasses and sometimes extra treatment (by patches of Atropine eye drops) is needed to allow a proper evolvement of the eyesight.
Will my kid even cooperate and wear glasses?
A lot of parents question the ability of their children to wear glasses, mainly when it's a baby or a young child. The truth is that most children who do need glasses will gladly wear them. They feel they can see well once they're wearing the glasses. Of course, parents have a significant role in the beginning – a positive attitude by the parents will encourage continuance glasses wearing. For example, during childhood you can have "glasses party" with a glasses shaped cake, balloons and a celebration in kindergarten. This in order to make it a fun and positive event! In addition, it's necessary to buy a proper frame for children: the frame should be light, with a nose-bridge that's fitted for kids, so it would be steady and won't slip. The eye must be placed in the center of the lens.
Does glass wearing help a child with reading/learning disorders?
Most kids having problems in school don't need "reading" glasses in order to improve learning. Of course, this is determined after a full eye exam at the ophthalmologist, that will show whether the child needs glasses or not.
What about bifocal glasses for children?
Children don't usually need bifocal glasses. The only reasons for children to wear bifocal glasses are treatment in special strabismus or if they had cataract operations.
Will the kids' eyes be harmed by wearing glasses, or make him depend on them?
No, quite contrary.
If the child does not wear glasses consistently, his eyesight might not evolve properly in one eye or both, and might suffer from lifetime damage.
The tip was provided by the courtesy of Dr. Irene Anteby, Head of the Center for Pediatric Ophthalmology.