To be worried about dd's glasses prescription

[Justalittlelemondrizzle]

Ok so i'm clearly posting here for traffic as im so confused. I've also posted this in children's health but it's very quiet.

Any opticians or knowledgeable parents around?
My dd(9) has just been for her annual eye test and her prescription has gone up yet again. I was wondering if anyone could explain it to me as all I know is it's quite high.

(R) Sph: +5.00 Cyl: 0.75 Axis: 10.0
(L) Sph: +5.25 Cyl: 1.75 Axis: 145.0

I'm worried the prescription will keep increasing every year as that is what seems to be happening. Two years ago when she was still attending the child eye clinic her prescription was only +3.25!
Then last year at the first test at the Optician it shot up to +4.75 +5ish and now it's gone up again.
I asked the Optician after the appointment today and he was just very passive about it.

[Endmoor1405]

I also had glasses from 2.5yrs with extensive patching to correct a squint and increasing prescriptions (well, according to my opticians/hospital history! I can't actually remember!!). But at around 10/11 my prescription slowly started to dwindle and now I only require +0.75 and +0.25 and only for reading. I wouldn't worry too much- my cousin has dreadful eyesight (glasses were like bottle ends even thinned) but she now wears the day/night contacts a previous poster mentioned and she is totally glasses free! Also not blind haha!

[Justalittlelemondrizzle]

That is such a relief! And great news about the astigmatism This is why I love mumsnet. Thank you for you all!

[booellesmum]

OP - she, sorry!

[Corneliussnitch]

Now I've crossposted

[Corneliussnitch]

Hi Lemon the 2014 prescription is
R +5.00/-1.50 x10. L +5.25/-2.00x 160 in - cyl form

So her longsight hasn't increased but she now has less astigmatism which is good news

[booellesmum]

2014 transposed is
R +5.00/-1.50x10
L +5.25/-2.00x160
This is therefore very similar.
If he can see in them ok and has no complaints you can relax!

[Shoppingwithmother]

Yes, those prescriptions are barely any different - well deduced Corn and Boo!
I am an optometrist. As others have said, it's much more likely that your DD's prescription will reduce with time, so don't worry.

[Justalittlelemondrizzle]

Corn & Boo..

That all sounds very reassuring if I understood correctly. Here's the prescriptions from the last 3 years. 2014 was the discharge letter from the clinic.

2014:
(R) Sph +3.50 Cyl +1.50 Axis 100
(L) Sph +3.25 Cyl +2.00 Axis 70
2015:
(R) Sph +4.75 Cyl -1.50 Axis 8.0
(L) Sph +5.00 Cyl -2.00 Axis 160.0
2016
(R) Sph +5.00 Cyl -0.75 Axis 10.0
(L) Sph +5.25 Cyl -1.75 Axis 145.0

[Huldra]

My children are both long sighted and their prescriptions were put up a couple of times, each time we were told that their eye sight hadn't got worse and they were making a adjustments.

I think + 5 is moderate. One of mine started with prescriptions around + 9 but with no other issues. He could cope well without them, the hospital said his eyes were strong and adjusted well. Apologies for the none technical explanation. He once broke both pairs of glasses within a week but managed school well.

My other son started around + 5 but has one eye stronger than the oother and pronounced astigmatism. He was a mess without his glasses.

[booellesmum]

Sorry corneliussnitch - crossed posts!

[booellesmum]

The one from the clinic:
Add the cyl to the first number and change the sign on the cyl
Eg
+3.50/+1.50x90
Would become
+5.00/-1.50x180
This is the same prescription.
If this is what has happened it will look like the Longsight has increased - but it hasnt really.
Worth taking all old prescriptions to your optometrist and they will check for you if this is the case.

[Corneliussnitch]

Hi Lemon if the clinic had written in + cyl form that explains why her prescription now appears stronger, if you post her last clinic prescription one of us will transpose it for you so you can directly compare the two prescriptions

[Justalittlelemondrizzle]

• on the one from the opticians last year but + from the clinic 2 years ago.

[booellesmum]

Was it + on the prescription before? Or always been -?

[Justalittlelemondrizzle]

Thr Cyl is -

[messystressy]

My DD's prescription is +6.75 and we have been told that she will likely always have to wear glasses.

[booellesmum]

+5.00 is not that strong - we would class it as moderate Longsight.

[dementedpixie]

It's a fairly high prescription and would suggest she will always need glasses/contacts

[booellesmum]

OP - just wondering if the cylinder (second number) is minus or plus?
R +5.00/-0.75x10
L +5.25/-1.75x145
is exactly the same prescription as:
R +4.25/+0.75x100
L +3.50/+1.75x55
If they have changed from writing a plus cyl on one prescription to a minus cyl on the next this would make it look like the prescription has changed more than it actually has.

[Justalittlelemondrizzle]

That does make sense as up until she was 7 they were focusing on improving the squint. Her long sightedness was obviously always worse than they said.
Would you say a +5.00 & +5.25 is very strong?

[ClaudiaJean2016]

So what if the prescription does increase? It has to go very very high before glasses or contacts or a combination of both can't correct it. Loads of people are short or long sighted. I think it's more common than having 20/20 vision.

For what it's worth; my prescription increased noticeably every year until I was in my late 20s and since then has gone up maybe 0.05 every two or three years. I wear contacts or glasses and my prescription doesn't affect my life at all. Putting contacts in is like the same thing as brushing my teeth in the morning, just an everyday fact of life. I doubt your daughters prescription will bother her.

[Corneliussnitch]

Boellesmum , hello rarely meet another one outside of work

[booellesmum]

Corneliussnitch - nice to see a fellow Orthoptist on here, there aren't that many of us!

[booellesmum]

Sometimes a Longsighted prescription will be deliberately undercorrected if the child has a divergent squint - an eye that drifts outwards. Giving the full prescription would increase the drift out. This would be a reason for an older child being given a reduced prescription if the hospital was managing the squint.

[nicky2512]

ds (nearly 11) has started to improve now. Up to this year prescription increased every year and we have been getting lenses thinned too. Don't know the figures but there was a significant improvement this year.