Does anyone have experience with eye patching to correct a vision problem ?

[ncmickeyluvr]

Yesterday, my son started wearing an eye patch to help with his vision. I have a few questions.

So, a little background. Three months ago, we learned that my 8 year old son had cataracts in both eyes. It was caught during a vision screening at school. So thankful for school nurses!! He had never failed a vision test before or had anything seen during an exam. It just sort of popped up unexpectedly. Ofcourse, I made an appointment with our opthamologist, assuming he would need glasses. I was VERY shocked to leave that day with an appointment with a Pediatric Eye Surgeon!

The specialist explained that he had no vision loss in his right eye but he did have a spider web like (sorry, I'm new to this and don't know the correct term ) cataract in that eye. In his left eye, he has a defined cataract in the center and it's obstructing his vision. She explained that they could be genetic and have always been there, just smaller and not causing a problem or they MAY be caused by his use of Nasonnex for dust allergies.

Anyway, she thought that his vision loss wasn't severe enough to require immediate surgery . She gave him glasses ( no RX in his right eye , only the left ) and wanted to re-evaluate in 3 months. That appointment was yesterday. She said there was some improvement in his left eye vision, so now she wanted to try patching the right eye ...along with glasses...for 3-4 hours a day. Thankfully, my goofy son was actually happy about this...he thinks he's a pirate now!!

So my question is, do we need to wear the patch for 4 hours straight or could he break it up? If he puts in on when he gets home from school, could he take it off to go to karate and then wear it again when he gets home?? I want to make sure he gets the optimal benefit from this!

Also, could anyone recommend a website to get a patch that fits over the lense of his glasses? He wanted to get a pirate patch type one yesterday but I'm thinking that the other style might be better. I've been looking online and the options are a bit overwelming.

Lastly, would anyone like to share their positive experiences with this??? I'm feeling a little anxious about what our next step is if this isn't successful. The doctor seemed to dismiss the chance of surgery last time but brought it up as an option yesterday....

 

[Squirrel!!!]

I am afraid my advice isn't going to address your actual questions since my daughter's patching was for different issues. She has amblyopia which causes her eye to cross in order to focus and we began patching when she was 18 months old.

Her doctor had us patch initially for 8 hours, then eventually when she was 5 it was down to 4 hours, but it was always 8 or 7 or...whatever consecutive hours. He particularly wanted my DD to be doing "close work" while wearing the patch. Up close was where she had trouble focusing with the weak eye.

As for the patches, we were instructed to NOT use the kind that cover the lenses since kids can cheat and lower their glasses and look around them. This is likely because my daughter was so young and would cheat? An older child is likely more responsible.

We had to use the adhesive patches. Luckily they came in fancy decorative ones with spots and flowers and ladybugs!!

So, I would suggest you call the office and find out if your son is supposed to wear the patch consecutive hours...maybe it matters, maybe it does not.

And maybe they have some resources that carry the patches they suggest? I know the place we get glasses carry some felt fabric ones, but have really only notice girly looking ones. (probably because I have a girl?)

Good luck with your son's vision! Wonderful that the school nurse noticed something was amiss.



Oh, our patching has a good ending. Before patching my DD did not have much vision in her left eye since her brain was not using it and she had close to zero depth perception. After (and we are not patching, and haven't for 4 years), while she wear glasses as she has poor vision without them, her vision is equally bad..or good in both eyes!!! The left eye still will cross without her glasses, but as long as she has them on, they are straight ahead!!

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

I'm going to agree with above poster about using the kind that fit on the glasses, here I was thinking they could move just their eye and never thought about lowering their glasses. Dd was patched from 2.5 till just after she turned four. She had a lazy eye and they started her on glasses first then patching and it w all over the place, two to start then up then down then up again...the one thing I've found it varies from child to child and it also depends on who is treating your child. Were in ns and they tend to do patching first, friends out west did surgery first, same with friends in Ontario, so you're going to get different answers from all of us.

We bought the ones from the children's hospital here, but there are online sites you can get them in bulk. I will recommend not getting the 3m/ Johnson and Johnson ones. They are smaller and have a lot more adhesive on them and it hurt dd when I had to take it off. By the end shed rip em off at the end of her time for the day and I'm shocked she still has an eye brow. Lol.

MY dd Has the same issues as pp, when the glasses are off you notice it and has depth perception issues still. We stopped patching rite before our first Disney trip with her. For us tho we did have to do it all at once in the day, in her case it was to strengthen the weak eye and force it to work, covering her strong eye, if you broke it up it was ineffective. Thank god for that nurse who caught it for your ds, I read in readers digest rite after we noticed her eye turn that if it's not caught by age six often the sight in that eye is lost. Good luck!

 

[mjkacmom]

My dd was patched from 2 - 3, 4 hours a day, usually intervals due to her age. She hated it, but liked it better than the eye blurrying drops. After a year, her condition was starting to get worse (lazy eye), so she had the surgery. Wish we just went that route after a year of tears! Sometimes it now goes the other way when she's really tired.

 

[zoemurr]

had the patches that went over her glasses.. maybe that's why it didn't work for us? Although I don't remember seeing her "cheat" at all. I was surprised that they didn't seem to bother her. She wore it for awhile at 5 and again at 7 because she wasn't using both eyes.

She did need surgery (2x) but it was done as outpatient and she was fine less than an hour later.

Anyway.. my point was that we purchased the patches from the eye dr.'s office for $6 each.

We have some lying around and DD just tried one on. There is really no way to cheat as it is pretty big. She said she could see a tiny bit by her nose if she really tried, but not around it unless she really pulled her specs down her nose.

Ours are similar to these. http://www.patchpals.com/

She wore hers out in public (even in DW) and while some kids had questions, it was the adults that I found amazingly rude about it.

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

Thanks for all of the advice. It is appreciated! Strangely, our doctor recommended the kind that fits over the glasses, as opposed to stick on. We got the kind with the strap only because ds was excited about "being a pirate" and the doctor said they were okay and he would be more compliant. She did have all kinds in her office but the styles were VERY babyish for an oh-so-mature 8 yr old!