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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:
TowerRavenSeven · 26/10/2017 20:43

He's crazy. Ds is far sighted and has been since he was 5 and got glasses. He can see far just fine, just not up close.

flyingpigsinclover · 26/10/2017 20:45

I was long sighted as a child but was then short sighted as an adult. Now I am short sighted but don't need glasses for reading as I am getting more long sighted.

Original poster
Allgoodfun · 26/10/2017 20:47

It was a different optician today to the one who had done the test last week, he read the test notes though. It's a well known chain optician. This is a problem when she isn't wearing her glasses as well as when she is.

OP posts:
Original poster
Allgoodfun · 26/10/2017 20:51

Flyingpig that confused me but think I've worked it out!
Demented did she get her prescription through a clinic or an optician?

OP posts:
AuldHeathen · 26/10/2017 20:53

I assume this optician meant it’s impossible for your dd to be long-sighted because of something known about your child. Because people of all ages can have long sight. You definitely need a 2nd opinion.

Thewinedidit · 26/10/2017 20:53

If she's only collected the glasses today she may just have to allow a wee bit of time to adjust. Quite often it can take a bit of time to adapt especially if there is astigmatism in the prescription. If she doesn't you really need to get them to recheck the prescription which they will do.

You would not be referred at the age of 13 to an ophthalmologist to check a prescription. Only if there was a health condition or a very young child. And vast majority of prescriptions issued by hospitals are through eye exams with their on site optometrists.

Trafalgarxxx · 26/10/2017 20:55

Second opinion.
I would also be querying why your dd sight is changing so quickly.

C8H10N4O2 · 26/10/2017 20:59

You need a new optician. Any optician who says a child can't be short sighted because they are young sounds decidedly odd, were they an ophthalmic optician or a dispenser?

Can you get a local recommendation for another practitioner? It may be a more reliable why to identify a good ophthalmic optician especially if DC has a more complex prescription need than slight short sight.

Original poster
Allgoodfun · 26/10/2017 21:04

Auldheathen, no nothing unusual about her, healthy child
Thewine this is without any glasses on, she said it was slightly better when she wore them.
Trafalgar yes that's worried me too, last time we went, about six months ago, she was crying with the headaches and I couldn't get any optician appt for several days so I took her to GP but they just gave her painkillers and said take her to the optician. When they changed her prescription the headaches went off but now we've had to get it changed again.

OP posts:
Patchouli666 · 26/10/2017 21:06

I'm long sighted. Whenever I need and start using a new prescription I'm fine seeing close up but distance is blurry after a while, headaches caused by eye strain etc. It might just be that your daughters brain is getting used to the increased vision and things will improve. Get her to switch between her new and old glasses for a few days and gradually wean herself off the old ones. It becomes more of a problem for me if there is a big jump in prescription strength. The bigger the jump the more getting used to the new lenses or glasses it takes.
Because your dd's prescription is for distance, ergo she is shortsighted, it will mean the opposite of what I get.....she is getting the blurriness in her close vision as the brain has to get used to that being different to allow for the distance vision. Does that make sense?

CommanderDaisy · 26/10/2017 21:14

Opticians can be wrong. They have varying degrees of skill.
Get a second opinion at a completely different chain/office etc.
I had to change after the one we saw did incorrect, headache causing prescriptions for myself, my son and my husband.
New guy.....no problems,no extended adjustment period for any of us.

dementedpixie · 26/10/2017 21:15

Dd was under hospital orthoptist care until around age 8 and now visits a local optician. She's worn glasses since she was 18 months old and is always long sighted although it had improved over time (is nearly 14 now)

Etymology23 · 26/10/2017 21:20

So her vision improves when she's wearing her glasses for short sightedness?

Is she very short sighted? I have a prescription of -5.5 and I can't read anything (except my kindle right near my face with the print large) without mine! It's not that I'm both long and short sighted but rather that I'm just incredibly short sighted. (Obviously without being an optician and seeing your daughter I can't say, but ultimately if she's coming out of the optician's and still can't see/isn't having lenses made up to mean she can then it needs pushing back to them or someone else til she can!

Amummyatlast · 26/10/2017 21:25

I agree with Ethmology23. I'm short sighted and can't read anything at normal reading distance if I'm not wearing my glasses. And it does take a while to get used the glasses.

NormaNameChange · 26/10/2017 21:29

I need particularly strong prescription for distance vision but have to lift them to read as they make close up (books/phone) impossibly blurry. I would reccomend putting new glasses on first thing in the morning after sleep. I find adjusting to a new prescription - mine changes annually - easier if I dont swap and change throughout the day. Get a second opinion Flowers for your daughter, its so difficult when your vision is shit.

Original poster
Allgoodfun · 26/10/2017 21:32

Thanks everyone. Ethnology that's something I hadn't thought of but it makes sense.
I'll call for her prescription tomorrow and book her in somewhere else.
You're all right that I need to keep going til this is sorted, not just take them at there word that the prescription will work.

OP posts:
Original poster
Allgoodfun · 26/10/2017 21:34

*Their word

OP posts:
Ilikeeyes · 26/10/2017 21:34

I think the optometrist is referring to 'presbyopia' which is an age-related condition where someone may require a different prescription for distance and reading. Its often confused with long-sightedness. At a young age, a prescription that allows you to see in the distance should definitely be fine for reading too. Just give a few days to adapt. No ophthalmologist needed-source: I am an optometrist 8-)

Slightlyperturbedowlagain · 26/10/2017 21:39

I had a pair of glasses years ago that gave me headaches behind the eyes. The opticians were adamant they were correct. In the end I paid again somewhere else and got the correct prescription made up, which fixed it. It was a horrible 6 months though.

MikeUniformMike · 26/10/2017 21:44

I would ask the GP. Children AFAIK don't pay for eye tests. I had an eye test at Tesco and although I was happy with my prescription it did feel a bit basic. I was happier going to an independent optician.

MikeUniformMike · 26/10/2017 21:45

And agree that an ophthalmologist at the eye clinic would be best. you get referred by a gp.

dementedpixie · 26/10/2017 21:47

I don't see how a gp would help and would refer back to an optician. I think 1 free test is allowed for children per year unless an earlier one is indicated clinically.

Jaxhog · 26/10/2017 21:48

Definitely get a second opinion - at the same opticians if you can as it them may not cost you anything.If your child can't see through the glasses, then either the prescription is wrong or the glasses are wrong.

I did that at Boots earlier this year. They were very apologetic, and remade my glasses.

PS. Children have much more flexible lens control than us oldies do, so are less likely to have problems reading with correct glasses. They tend to be either long sighted or short sighted.

Stoptherideiwannagetoff · 26/10/2017 22:16

Well that's bollocks, ds has been noted as long sighted since age 9 Confused time for a second opinion!

TheInimitableMrsFanshawe · 26/10/2017 22:22

I needed bifocals at about age 14 - a lack of binocular vision because the prescription in each eye was so different. My brain was struggling to adapt between looking at the board in class and then looking back at my work. I needed prisms in the lenses for a while but it got better and now I don’t need them anymore.

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