Long Vision in our two and a half-year old daughter

[duckturpin]

Our daughter has just been diagnosed with long vision and lazy-eye and has been prescribed glasses. She's evidently very long-sighted with +10 in both eyes and one eye that sometimes slips downwards. Has anybody had any experience of this and does anyone know where to find any information out? for example, what the treatment comprises of (apart from wearing glasses), will she always have to wear them, patching etc. We've been given rather garbled and conflicting information. Are there any support groups out there. We'd love to hear from anyone who can

[Frontpaw]

Sounds like my sister, although she is almost blind in one eye. She had a patch for a while (when she was about 4) and wears glasses. These are a million times better these days as lenses are thinner and lighter and don't magnify the eye too much. She used to break her glasses on a weekly bases (very tomboyish) and had a squint (corrected with the patch/glasses) which we didn't remember until the optician mentioned it years later, so it must have been sorted when she was quite little.

I've heard of exercises, patterns to look at, etc as 'treatment' but not really aware of any that really really work. Glasses aren't that bad, really! These days they are so much better designed for children, and you can get loads of different colours and styles. Kids don't seem to tease glasses wearers these days, thank goodness.

[VforViennetta]

Ds2(3) is long sighted and has a lazy eye, it was actually diagnosed at about 6 months! He has had glasses for awhile but refused to wear them. He now has a patch that he wears for as long as possible each day and glasses.

He has only had the patch for a few weeks and they didn't really say how long he would have to wear it for. I'm assuming he will have to wear glasses for at least a few years.

[mycatlikestwiglets]

I was diagnosed with long sight and a squint aged 2 (am now 33). For some reason I never had patching, although that may have been because my vision is quite unequal - one eye much worse than the other. I have needed glasses ever since and had operations quite early on for each eye to correct the squint. My eyes are now pretty straight when I'm wearing glasses or contact lenses, but still very squinty without. I suspect your DD will have to wear glasses long-term given the very strong prescription she has, but you may find her vision improves over time. Mine kept getting better up to about the age of 16 (when I was finally allowed contact lenses) and has stabilised since then at +4.5 in one eye and +2 in the other.

The important thing is that you've discovered the problem and are getting it treated/corrected as the earlier it's discovered the more effective the treatment is likely to be. I think there have been decent strides forward on this in recent years - my mum battled really hard to have squints in me and both my siblings dealt with even though they were really obvious from a young age.

[Northernexile]

I'm another person with long sight, diagnosed when I was about two. My left eye drifts in to the corner when not wearing glasses or lenses, but I never wore a patch. My prescription is now +5.5 in my left eye and + 4.5 in my right. This is a slight improvement on what it used to be, but I will always have to wear glasses/lenses.

I would have thought with such a strong prescription your DD will need glasses long term. It's not that bad though, and I have manages well with contact lenses since I was 11 (and I'm now 31).

[blanksquit]

My dd was diagnosed long sighted from age two. She's a +7 in both eyes and her eye moves in if she doesn't wear her glasses. She's now 7.

We never needed patching - but I think it depends on how successful you are at getting her to wear the glasses. It is quite hard at first to get them to wear them all day. Now at age 7 she wears them from the minute she wakes up to the minute she goes to bed. She wears them for all sport (for swimming you can get prescription goggles) and she wears them in the bath.
If she takes them off, her eye starts to turn in.

We have been told that as a +7 she will always need glasses. The laser surgery available now doesn't cover this level of sight problem but it may well do in the future. She will be able to wear contact lenses if she wants to when she's older. My dn is a +9 and he wears contacts now.

Treatment wise - we were under the hospital until very recently. We had three or six monthly check ups and one annual eye test with the eye drops. I don't know if you've had the test using the eye drops, but they sting a bit and they dilate their pupils for some time afterwards, so you have to ensure that their eyes are protected for the rest of the day with sunglasses or a hat.

I'm not sure if it's the same with all dc with this problem, but mine can't see 3d films or pictures.

There used to be an opthalmologist (I think) on here giving advice. I'm not sure if the thread is still here, I'll have a look.

[blanksquit]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/childrens_health/a1291818-Lazy-eye-squints-glasses-etc

Here - sorry Orthoptist not opthalmologist - but there is some useful info there.

[mycatlikestwiglets]

You're right about 3D blanksquit - when I took DS to be checked for a squint I was told one of the key tests for diagnosis in babies is holding up a 3D image in front of them. I'd always wondered why I can't see in 3D, and it turns out it's because of my squint - I can't believe noone told me before (I thought I just lacked imagination!). I was amazed when DS started pointed toward what I was told were pictures of animals in 3D as I couldn't see them at all.

[cheekyginger]

Awwww thanks blanksquit, i was just about to copy my link in when i see that you already have. I feel all famous!

Check this website out duckturpin This is our website that gives parents information about children eyes.

As for your DD. Her prescription of +10 is a strong prescription so she will need them longterm. She would only need patching if her vision is unequal which will be detected over time by repeated vision tests with the orthoptists. From what you've written the only plan would be to get her wearing her glasses full time.