AIBU to be worried about my dd's eyesight.

[therenter]

Dd3 is 8- she has worn glasses for a few years now. A very small presciption for her longsight. Everything was going well until last June. Sitting waiting outside the opticians dd pipes up "i have been forgetting to wear my glasses at school" I talked to her about the importance of wearing them.
During the test it appeared that one of her eyes had done a complete u turn and was now short sighted (by a higher degree then she was previously long sighted). Optician raised some concern said it was possibly the muscles in her eyes and gave her a new prescription that she had to wear all the time.
She has been fab and her glasses never leave her face. She had another appointment in October and got given a new prescription as there was a slight improvement.

We returned in January and the optician was quite concerned it seems her eye has got much worse again.
He referred her onto the consultant at the hospital and she had her appointment yesterday. I was at work so dh took her for me.
Her eye seems bad- she can read the top level of letters on the eye chart but really struggles beyond that.
They have called her back this Friday ro have eye drops and investigate further.
Dh said the consultant didn't seem to concerned and said it was just so they can narrow the presciption down and get her exactly what she needs.
Dh isn't worried because the consultant didn't show any concern.

I am worried tho, that is a massive difference in her eye and the fact that it is only one eye really concerns me that it could be something serious.

Should I take time off on Friday and go to or give my dh a list of questions I want asked?
What would questions would you want to know in this situation?

Does anyone have similar experience?
Thank you

Your daughter's eye will have already been thoroughly checked for anything sinister (it's a routine part of the sight test and she's also seen a consultant for the same), so I would put any thoughts about serious health issues on the backburner for now. It's straightforward to visualise damage/cancer/etc and you'll know more when she has her next examination. Also, things like that tend to cause a different type of problem with vision (dark spots, cloudy spots, and so on) which doesn't match your daughter's deficit.

It seems like she has one weak eye. It happens. You just need to get to the bottom of why, but it's possibly a shape issue (astigmatism: would expect the optician to pick this up), a pressure issue (glaucoma: has anyone puffed an air jet at her eye surface?) or a lens/muscle issue. Unstable eyesight can also be caused by some more general health issues such as diabetes, but I assume she's in good health generally?

It's straightforward to visualise damage/cancer/etc and you'll know more when she has her next examination
Sorry, that didn't come out right. I meant to say that the next exam is just a double-check - I don't think they suspect this kind of issue.

I would firstly say that my DD who is now 12 had to keep having 6 month check ups with the optician as one eye in particular was getting noticeably worse every time she had her appointment, thankfully when we recently went there was no change, they seem to think its the growing spurts that she is having was the reason possibly why they were getting worse, I should add that my DD is short sighted and some of it is possibly hereditary from her dad as his eyesight is poor.
Its good that she has been referred to a consultant just to air on the side of caution so to speak, but I would definitely see if you can also attend and ask any questions you may have, I always take my DD as my DH always forgets things and I never get the full picture.
Hope it all goes well and please don't worry, I know its hard not to.

Changes in glasses prescription in children are not related to any underlying medical condition, so there is no eye or other disease there to be concerned about.

Most likely her eyeball has had a growth spurt resulting in her becoming short-sighted. A difference between the eyes is not unusual. It may be that her other eye will 'catch up later' or it may not and she will continue to have a difference between the eyes.

Occasionally, especially in children the muscles that re-shape the lens to focus for different distances (accommodation) go into a spasm, resulting in pseudo (false) myopia. The eye drops will relax her eye muscles allowing the 'true' prescription to be found. That's why they've booked her in for the drops.

Absolutely nothing to be concerned about. She won't make her eyes any better or worse by wearing or not wearing specs, so this is not something that has happened due to anything she has done or not done.

It seems to be very common for eyes to change suddenly as children grow - both mine had a period of very rapid worsening in their shortsightedness around the age of 8/9 to 10/11. DS at 10 had to change glasses twice in 8 months due to a sudden change in his sight. Both mine have one eye significantly worse than the other. We have a strong family history of short sight, is this the case for to your DD?

I think if the optician didn't seem worried, there probably isn't anything to worry about.

But I think you should go along too if you can. Otherwise you will think of a dozen things afterwards that DH should have asked but didn't, or clarified further, or some new worry.

Yanbu to be worried, shes your daughter. But I dont think you have anything to worry about at all. I've been under consultant care for my eyesight since primary school when they found something in one of my eye veins!

I have a high prescription but I don't wear my glasses (I appreciate this is stupid) its normal for eyes to change rapidly as they're growing up. Dont worry Op

One of my eyes is also a lot worse than the other one, I think lots of people have one worse eye.

I can't read the top letter of the eye chart w my left eye and haven't been able to since age 9. It's never got worse since then either.

Go if you want to but the chances are this is a normal deterioration in sight that will stabilise.

I've worn glasses since i was 12. My eyesight has gotten worse, then better then worse and finally stabilised around age 28 (well the past 3 eye tests my prescription hasn't changed. My right eye is worse than my left (always has been). You are not unreasonable to be worried but i think they are just trying to be cautious and get the prescription right so it doesn't have an adverse effect.

Thanku for your answers and sorry for the delay in replying, have been at work all day and then busy with the kids.
I did manage to book the time off on Friday- I just think I would feel better if I was there (even if I am being slightly neurotic!).
Eye history in our family. Dh wore glasses as a child for reading- he was longsighted. Dd1 also wears glasses for reading as ahe is longsighted. I have worn glasses since I was 17 - I am shortsighted. My dad is shortsighted, as is my elder sister. My mum is longsighted.

I have just never come across a situation where an eye can change so much so it has freaked me out a bit. It also worried me slightly that they asked her to come back so quickly. I know what the NHS are like for waiting times. She was initially referred in January and now they want to see her again on Friday- so although the consultant didn't appear to be overly concerned the expediency had alarmed me a little.