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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Optician says it's impossible for 13yr old to be long sighted

72 replies

Allgoodfun · 26/10/2017 20:14

Dd 13yrs has worn glasses for distance - school board, tv etc for a couple of years. Eyes worsened at the beginning of the year and new prescription given, then again last week and stronger prescription again. Both times she asked to go as worse and head aches.

Went to pick up her glasses today and she told me she can't see close up either, reading is fuzzy and gives her a headache, so I asked the optician about this. He insisted that its impossible at her age to be long sighted and she didn't need glasses for this but her glasses for distance would help with close work too. I queried that and he asked her if she could read something with her glasses on and she said it's still fuzzy. He said she'd get used to the glasses and improve.

She has previously said reading is fuzzy before we went back, not just today, but I was distracted by other dd being taken ill during her appointment so didn't question it then.

So my AIBU is really a "is he talking rubbish?"and should I take her to another optician, or is he right and she'll be fine with her distance glasses?

OP posts:
Antisocialarsebadger · 26/10/2017 20:15

What's his basis for saying it's impossible. Get another one to have a look. Bad eye sight is awful to live with

Supermagicsmile · 26/10/2017 20:15

Go and get a second opinion. Tesco opticians offer free eye tests :)

AndNoneForGretchenWieners · 26/10/2017 20:16

DS has been long sighted since he was a baby, and at 17 is still long sighted. I was also told I was long sighted at 9, and this has remained a constant. Whilst anecdotes don't equal data, I would suggest that it is definitely possible to be long sighted at 13.

PurplePillowCase · 26/10/2017 20:16

yes go to a different optician.

dementedpixie · 26/10/2017 20:17

Not impossible to be long sighted at that age as dd is long sighted and always had been. What is the prescription she has been given?

dementedpixie · 26/10/2017 20:18

Does she have short sight if she needs glasses for distance work?

AuntieJuice · 26/10/2017 20:19

Could be astigmatism?

Liara · 26/10/2017 20:20

I guess the optician is saying that it's not possible at that age to be both long sighted and short sighted, and need different glasses for distance and nearby?

I would go and see an actual ophthalmologist, tbh. Opticians have nowhere near the level of training and if what your daughter has is unusual they might be out of their comfort zone.

dementedpixie · 26/10/2017 20:21

Do you have a copy of the prescription

Ttbb · 26/10/2017 20:21

When he says that her eyes will adobist he means deriorate. If her prescription makes it worse it will do damage to her eyes.

EvilRinguBitch · 26/10/2017 20:21

I’d get a second opinion. Opticians can be wrong.

Etymology23 · 26/10/2017 20:23

I know multiple people who were short sighted at that age. Don't know that I know any who were both long and short sighted. Deffo try a second optician.

PavlovianLunge · 26/10/2017 20:24

I was diagnosed long sighted at five, maybe even younger. It sounds like you need a new optician; I’ve been very impressed with Tesco, much to my surprise.

Tenroundswithmiketyson · 26/10/2017 20:25

Maybe rhe glasses are too strong

dementedpixie · 26/10/2017 20:25

Maybe he said she couldn't be long sighted because she had always been short sighted before?

Thewinedidit · 26/10/2017 20:27

My advise as an optician is if she's not seeing well with the glasses go back to the clinic. They can make sure the glasses are made correctly and double check the prescription. Also I would suggest a chat with the optometrist to clarify what he meant as there's probably been some crossed wires somewhere in the conversation.

And yes you can be long sighted at any age.

Mishappening · 26/10/2017 20:28

I think you need a proper ophthalmologist who specialises in children. It is important to get this right. Their brains are still developing and it is important that they are receiving the right visual messages.

Children can of course be longsighted. The issue here seems to be that your DD has a prescription for short sight. If her reading is fuzzy, then the prescription is likely to be wrong.

LBOCS2 · 26/10/2017 20:29

I don’t know the answer to your question, but I would say that I recently went to the optician thinking that to go with my quite severe short sightedness I’d also become long sighted as close up work had become fuzzy. It turned out that my eyesight had actually randomly improved, and I needed a less severe prescription.

I would certainly get a second opinion either way - your DD’s eyesight needs the appropriate aid, which your optician hasn’t provided.

SciFiFan2015 · 26/10/2017 20:34

My DS (11) has glasses because he is long sighted. My DD (7) has a tendency to long sightedness too and may need glasses in future. Son was same at age 7. Both parents are short sighted!

purplecollar · 26/10/2017 20:34

My dd has been longsighted since age 2. I think it's to do with rugby balled shaped eyes (or lenses?) in her case. So I'm guessing what he's saying is that you can't suddenly develop this later on? My nephew is also long sighted and he was also diagnosed with this aged 2. In both cases it caused them to squint (go cross eyed).

misscph1973 · 26/10/2017 20:35

Why don't you aks your GP for a referral to the eye hospital? It's quite normal that young children have their eyes checked at the hospital, that's what we did with my DD when she started wearing glasses at age 6 ( have had glasses myself since I was 12) and then she started seeing an optician after a few years. Just explain to your GP that you would like a second opinion.

Original poster
Allgoodfun · 26/10/2017 20:36

Didn't get a copy of her prescription but I can get it tomorrow. He said repeatedly that it is impossible to be long sighted at her age. He didn't say it as though it was because she's also short sighted.
How do I get to see a proper ophthalmologist as pp are saying? Would that be through the GP?

OP posts:
Original poster
Allgoodfun · 26/10/2017 20:41

I'd assumed that glasses for distance would make close work harder to see rather than better? I wear glasses for reading and they make me blind as a bat if I look up at something

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 26/10/2017 20:42

Is there another optician at the place you go to that could double check the lenses against the prescription for you? Or could offer another test to double check the prescription you have been given?

dementedpixie · 26/10/2017 20:43

Dd is long sighted but her prescription is tailored so she has decent sight for both near and distance