Nearsighted Children

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

DD (9) will be getting her first pair of glasses today (they are cute at least!).
History-DH is very nearsighted (-9) and wears soft contacts. I am moderately nearsighted with worse astigmatism and wear gas perms.
DD showed beginnings of nearsightedness last summer at her eye appt. Dr. wanted to hold off on glasses and recheck this year. Bad enough for glasses now. She is only at a -1.25 with slight astigmatism in one eye. He says she needs to take off the glasses when she reads or does close work as studies have shown this can reduce the progression. He wants to recheck her in 6 months now-I guess with family history he is expecting the worse.
My question. I have been researching on the internet to see what CAN slow the progression and see so many different theories. Taking off glasses for close work is one. Eye exercises are part of others, wearing gas perms is another (which is what they had said for me growing up). Any input/experiences/advice from anyone would help as I want to know what I am talking about at the next appt. I really want to slow the progression in her if possible (though I don't really know that we can). Her genes for her vision are not the best. Somehow older DS has escaped this! Anyone have a child that is nearsighted and what has their Dr. said?

 

[DoeWDW]

I have a suggestion if you don't want her taking her glasses on and off all the time, especially at school where she has to look up at the board and then down at her paper repeatedly - ask them to make a pair of glasses with clear bifocals, so she can keep them on all the time and look through the clear bifocals when she's doing close work.

 

[pumba]

been wearing bifocals for two years......he has a problem with focusing and getting his eyes to stop trembling when he tries to focus.....these are good and he does not have to remove to see board or his paperwork.......he does say he has progressive lens.....you can not tell that he has bifocals on......probably two years on these and then go to regular lens......

 

[Microcell]

I work for an eye doc and he wants to check in 6 months because he wants to have an accurate RX for beginning of school next year. Saves you hassle from nurse when she flunks the eye test! Kids eyes can change as often as every six months! I really think they just want to have her squared away for school. I have never heard about slowing the progression of nearsightedness. I am a --6.50 and would welcome the chance to slow it down. My boss said I will have better sight just as soon as I get cataracts removed! Now I just need to wait 30 to 40 years for them to form!

Just curious- is this doc an Optomitrist?

 

[browneyes]

We took my dd to the eye dr last September when she failed her eye test at school (she was 10 yo at the time). The eye dr was shocked when he tested her to be 20/200. She never squinted, never complained about having problems seeing the board, no headaches or anything. Her eye dr said she needed to wear hers all the time. He said in about a year, we should see significant improvement. She loves her glasses, they're purple Mary Kate & Ashley frames. He said he wouldn't suggest contacts until she was atleast 12, but he preferred to wait until she was 14.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

Yes, he is just an optometrist (part of our Health care plan). I can ask her Pediatrician to give her a referal to an ophthalmologist if I want to. I have debated that all day! Some of the studies did show putting a bifocal (not just clear as suggested) into nearsighted children's lenses to slow progression. All of these are just "studies" and I have found nothing "proven". I guess I am grasping at straws for her. If her eye is going to elongate, what will stop that!!?? I hate she will have to face a life of lenses (contacts one day) as we have. I also do worry about her taking the things off and on all day!
It was when I mentioned DH and my problems that he said "6 months". Not sure if that trend will continue, I am sure the prescription will be worse.
Microcell-do you work for Ophthalmologist? Should I take her there in 6 months??
Thanks to all for the input!

 

[Sleepy]

My son has always had bad eyesight. Found out at age 5 that he needed glasses and at that point he was -4.00. Yep, my baby was blind and I did not know it He started wearing contacts at age 7 and his eyesight has not gotten much worse. He is waiting to be old enough for lasik. Sorry about your child. Tough wearing glasses when you are young.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

Hey browneyes-the metal on DD's glasses is a rose pink! Yep, she LOVES pink! I wonder why your Dr. said your DD's will improve??
DD has been compensating at school the Dr. said. She does not squint-but she has had headaches and has started feeling woozy in the car (bonine is a must on trips!). I guess when they get worse, she will not be told to take them off to read.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

Sleepy-are they gas perms??
Here is one such study among many I found online:
http://www.allaboutvision.com/parents/myopia.htm

 

[goofy4tink]

Another mom to a nearsighted kid. My dd got her glasses in preschool. Poor kid. She badly flunked the eye exam at her pedi. check-up. And we had no idea. When she got her glasses, she kept saying..'wow, look at that'. I felt soooo awful. She is on her 4th pair of glasses at 10 1/2. Her eyes sure aren't getting any better, that's for sure. But, her dad and I are both blind as bats basically. So, she's probably looking at lasik surgery in the future. But, we've never been told that there is any way to stop the progression. Why, she even got prescription swim goggles for WDW and swim lessons.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

My DS is farsighted and has amblyopia (lazy eye) in one as well, so he's had glasses since he was 2--at the spring concert he was the only little boy in kindergarten with glasses--plus right now he is patched for 4 more weeks (although I didn't have him wear it at the concert) because his "bad" eye is slipping again, so we have to patch the good eye.
We see a pediatric ophthamologist every 3-4 months, more often if warranted (like now). Luckily that is under our medical plan because my eye care plan only provides for a checkup once a year, and no progressive lenses are paid for if needed. It's better than nothing, but it's pretty restrictive.
Robin M.

 

[janette]

My 12yo DD has been in glasses since 1st grade. Started wearing contacts last year. Her contacts are -3.0 , this year we probably should have gotten a new prescription mid-year since her progression was worse this year than it has been in the past. The longest she's stayed in a prescription is 18mths and that's because I didn't realize how much worse she'd gotten. We never wait longer then 12mths now!

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

Well, we are back with the glasses-she is cute as a button. She is walking around looking at things outside. Has made some pretty funny remarks about things she never saw before.

I think the Dr. is hoping taking them off will slow the progression-I doubt it, but will have her take them off for close work until we go back in 6 months. I really hate that we shared these genes with her, but at least she does not seem to mind...yet.

Thanks for sharing your kids stories. I know we are not alone at least.

 

[AZKathy]

My DS has been in glasses since he was four years old. He was seeing a pediatric Opthamologist every 6 months and the vision got worse and worse very quickly. He decided to try and see if DS would do with gas perm contacts when he was six...YES SIX! He had never put such a young one in gas perm contacts, but we needed to try something. He wore them with a lot of screaming and yelling, but he finally got used to wearing them. The progression was so fast, he also was concerned about a detached retina. Anyhoo, the progression seemed to slow down and he seems to not have such drastic changes on prescriptions. He is like -11.25 and is now 13 years old. We are hoping to be able to offer him lasix when he turns 18 if that is possible.

 

[dizmomof2]

My DD also has glasses. She doesn't like them but she does wear them. In grade one, just before Christmas, she had reading glasses. In September of grade two she needed distance glasses. That's how fast children's eyes can change.

My DD did want to wear her glasses and kept "forgetting" to put them on in school. (she only has to wear them at school or for watching TV or movies) At the end of grade two she brought home the spelling words that she had copied off the board. They were so wrong that they didn't even make sense. Needless to say she did incredibly poorly on the test. She was horrified! That night after school I made her put on her glsses in the class and reread the spelling words from the board and compare them to hers. We never had to remind her to wear her glasses in school again.

 

[Sleepy]

Originally posted by BibbidiBobbidiBOO
Sleepy-are they gas perms??
Here is one such study among many I found online:
http://www.allaboutvision.com/parents/myopia.htm

No, they are not gas perms. They are toric. He does really well with them. The change in prescription with his yearly opthalmologist appt is so slight, there really is not much need to change prescriptions every year, however, we do just for the clarity. My mother started wearing the gas perms this year for the very reason you pointed out in the link. (She has cataracts). Nobody had ever told her that wearing contacts would improve the clarity of her vision. She was absolutely amazed! Thanks for taking the time to post that link.

 

[kadaten]

I started wearing glasses at age 8 (I'm now 30), although I needed them long before that. Every time I'd say I couldn't see, the teacher would just make me sit in the front row I started in contacts at age 12 since I really hated my glasses!! (In fact, when I first got them, they *mysteriously* broke 3 or 4 times in a couple of months....I just loved that they had to be sent off to be repaired and I didn't have to wear them. What a dumb kid I was! I finally got it though, and stopped treating them harshly.)

None of my doctors have ever suggested to me that there is a way to slow the progression in my eyes. If there is a way, I'm pretty ticked they didn't tell me about it!! I went every six months when I was little because my eyes were changing that rapidly and they wanted to keep my prescription current. When I went 12 months between changes they changed me to check-ups every 12 months since it was slowing.

I now wear soft contacts the majority of the time....Auvue 2 (-4.75 power) in one eye, Acuvue Toric (-5.25 power) in the other for astigmatism. First time I've had astigmatism strong enough to correct with contacts (had always been too slight). Something's wrong with that eye, as it's not clear even with the Torics, and is oddly misshapen. Doc thinks I may have done some damage by wearing my disposables too long....so make sure if your kids are wearing contacts, that they're changing them like they're supposed to!!

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

I have bad astigmatism and cannot even wear torics-they say I could not see clear and crisp with them. In fact I don't even see clear out of one eye with gas perms-astigmatism is too bad. I hope my DD does not take after me with that too . I picked up my first pair of reading glasses yesterday as she got her first glasses . My corrections have made my near vision go sooner than normal.

I was told about gas perms slowing progression when I was a young teen. Actually I think they said hard contacts could slow it at that time (that is what I wore for years). I really am finding LOTS of studies online with the premise that gas perms can slow progression. Of course there are other studies that dispute that . I think I will take her to an ophthalmologist in 6 months and get another perspective. I do not want hers to progress like DH's. And what she did in 9 months time suggest it may . I will keep researching too!

DD is anxious to go to school in them today-I hope kids are kind. Some of her friends want glasses, so that helps.

 

[pouncingpluto]

I was already slightly nearsighted before I had corneal ulcers in both eyes at age 8. They have no idea what caused them and said it was a one in a million chance to get them in both eyes at the same time. My mom first knew something was wrong because I stopped going out to play because the sun hurt my eyes so bad. When I went in to get checked out, the doctor thought I was faking... that my prescription couldn't possibly have gotten so much worse so quickly. I think I was about 20/400 at the time... it's gotten worse in the 17-18 years since then... now I don't register on that kind of chart anymore, because I can't read the E at the top. My contacts are -7.5, glasses -8.5.

Anyway, they had to check me into the hospital and put me under general anesthesia to examine my eyes, because I couldn't stand them shining a light into my eyes when I was conscious. For treatment, I had to go to the Mayo clinic, and I got two or three kinds of medicated eye drops, plus an eye cream. My parents had to literally pin me down on the floor and rub cream in my eyes everyday.

So, that's my traumatic near-sightedness story.

I started wearing disposable contacts instead of glasses when I was 13 and have been wearing them ever since. I'm just now trying to get back to wearing glasses around the house, because you get more oxygen to your eyes. I've been told not to wear contacts more than sixty percent of the time.

I'm waiting for the newest line of Acuvues (I'm in Acuvue 2 right now... can't remember what the new one is called) to come out in the stronger prescriptions like mine, because it's thinner and better for the oxygen.

 

[kasar]

According to our Pediatric Opthamologist, your body will do what it will do, you can't slow down any changes. He also told us that reading without adequate light and sitting too close to the TV can't change nature either. He's kind of one of these, "relax, it will be fine" types of docs (which I love).

My DD was 8 when she got glasses despite a perfect check-up at age 7 (she was going yearly for a slight turning of the eye since age 18 mos.) The Dr. said that he sees most kids when they are in the 3rd grade.

As tough as it is, she'll be fine! Glasses are kind of cool these days and they are really cute too.