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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not get DD’s eyes tested again?

44 replies

lking679 · 15/09/2021 12:19

DD is three and has been closing one eye when pointing at things in medium to long distance last few weeks. I’ve had no worries about her eyesight before and her eyes looks straight and aligned to me. But I booked her in for an eye test at high street chain just to make sure nothing going on.
They took a photo of her eyes, did an eye test covering up each eye in turn and she has 20/20 vision. Great.
Checked for lazy eye / eye turn when one covered and looked in the back of her eye with a torch. She was very good but obviously didn’t like it much.
Optician said everything was fine but .... he wanted her back to put drops in to dilate her eyes and have a better look “to get the prescription right.” I was confused and said but everything has been fine was it necessary and what prescription?
He said it was 100% necessary and it was to check if she needed a prescription.
What is he thinking he’ll find he hasn’t already? I never had the drops as a yin heater having tests only when I had to go to hospital for an eye infection... and it was horrible. DD will get upset.
I feel like he’s doing it to charge the NHS more. I’m tempted to leave it now and see if preschool say anything and until she has an eye test at school. (Have told preschool my worries they said they hadn’t noticed).

YANBU- cancel drop eye test and wait and see
YABU- take her for eye test

OP posts:
PinkFootstool · 15/09/2021 12:22

I have the drops every time, it's nothing to distress her over - she won't notice a difference in her vision from them or anything. Why wouldn't you want a full test done, given her apparent issues with eyesight?

KrisAkabusi · 15/09/2021 12:34

She clearly has a problem, and he's the professional that says its necessary to check. For what its worth, I've never been to Specsavers or Vision Express without having drops put in my eyes to check for problems. It's normal.

HelenaJustina · 15/09/2021 12:39

All 4 of my DC wear glasses, and all 4 needed the drops when they were younger to ascertain the correct initial prescription. They had it done at the local eye hospital.
Closing one eye to gauge distance isn’t a usual trait in that age, please get her checked over.

SylvanasWindrunner · 15/09/2021 12:39

YABU. Are you an optician? Why do you think you know better than what he's telling you? Confused

LittleOwl153 · 15/09/2021 12:43

My DD had eye drops for eye tests from 4. She has a lazy eye. Some opticians can do more than others - who would refer to hospital earlier. Eye drops are not that big a deal if done properly.

The issue here is I suspect you don't trust the optician. That tends to be instinctive and you should think why. If it is just a money issue - I certainly have this with dentists - then forget it. If you don't think he is treating her properly then take her elsewhere.

But I would say she needs to go back. If your instinct is that this is wrong then take her elsewhere but 3/4 is a great age to correct eyes so I wouldnt leave it.

Peace43 · 15/09/2021 12:44

My DD is neither long nor short sighted but she does have astigmatism… take your kid back for the rest of the test. My DD is easily upset but she copes fine with drops.

Xmasbaby11 · 15/09/2021 12:48

It's normal procedure and will help the optician work out the problem. Dd 7 had it done recently.

Cardboardboxingring · 15/09/2021 12:53

I've worked in an opticians and this is a standard procedure for older people, children, diabetics etc. I went without glasses for years because my mother thought the local optician was just trying to drum up business by offering to test me. There's clearly an issue here, why on earth would you let your daughter suffer just to prove a point?

girlmom21 · 15/09/2021 12:55

Why would you risk him missing an issue with your daughters eyes? Of course she should have the drops.

ForensicFlossy · 15/09/2021 12:55

My dd had drops when she was younger. Young children tend to try hard to "get the answers right" in an eye test instead of saying what they can / can't see. The drops help to give a truer prescription. Please take her back.

Original poster
lking679 · 15/09/2021 12:55

Can I ask if anyone had it done following a normal eye exam and that part of the exam actually resulted in something being picked up that wasn’t otherwise?

For context for an unrelated condition I used my private healthcare with work to get diagnostics done for her at Great Ormond Street. The diagnostics they put her through turned out to be unnecessary. We got an apology from them for the distress it caused both her and my DH who took her.
I am wary of tests unless there is an obvious need as you can being poked and prodded or over treated for no reason.

OP posts:
girlmom21 · 15/09/2021 12:56

I am wary of tests unless there is an obvious need as you can being poked and prodded or over treated for no reason.

There is an obvious need or you'd never have taken her to the opticians...

dementedpixie · 15/09/2021 12:57

It's pretty standard to use drops for an eye test for children under the age of about 7/8

Sheldock · 15/09/2021 13:07

Don't rely on the school testing them. My DS 'passed' his school eye test easily. I didn't think things were quite right so took him to the Opticians where he was tested, then given eye drops and then re-tested, turned out to be super long sighted.
My only advice would be to take sunglasses for after the eye drops as the light really hurt his eyes until the drops wore off.

No harm in getting retested.

bumpertobumper · 15/09/2021 13:17

Getting eye drops is a regular part of ascertaining whether your child needs glasses or patching, as all PP have said. It is not unnecessary over testing. Sorry that happened to your dc before, but this is different.
Many vision problems can be corrected or improved before the age of 7, with patching etc, so early diagnosis really makes a difference.

Many schools dont test their eyes these days.

The drops don't hurt.

I wish I'd picked up my ds sight issues at 3. He was 5 and although improvement was made it would have been better if we'd noticed sooner.

readsalotgirl63 · 15/09/2021 13:18

Please follow up - we didn't realise until too late that although dd could see she actually doesn't have proper binocular vision. If we'd had her eyes tested more thoroughly earlier it might have been detected before she was 5 - after that it's too late.

Original poster
lking679 · 15/09/2021 13:28

@readsalotgirl63

Please follow up - we didn't realise until too late that although dd could see she actually doesn't have proper binocular vision. If we'd had her eyes tested more thoroughly earlier it might have been detected before she was 5 - after that it's too late.
Too late for what? Can she see?
OP posts:
dementedpixie · 15/09/2021 13:35

It's not too late after age 5
Eyes develop until age 7/8ish so eye issues can be corrected before they become fixed and unable to be improved

dementedpixie · 15/09/2021 13:37

P.s. my dd has had glasses from 18 months old and also had/has glasses (now nearly age 18). She doesn't have proper binocular vision but it doesn't affect her daily life

Pashazade · 15/09/2021 13:42

If your not happy with the optician ask your GP for a referral to the children's optician, then you can go up to the hospital. Using drops is absolutely standard and if you want to have her eyes assessed I'm afraid they will have to be used. She's too young for them not to be used. You don't get signed off from the NHS optician to the high street until they're seven at the earliest.

Original poster
lking679 · 15/09/2021 13:42

Okay keeping the appointment for the dilated exam! Hopefully it will be fine.
Thanks all

OP posts:
underneaththeash · 15/09/2021 13:43

Drops are used routinely when you're doing an eye examination for younger children. They are called cycloplegics - they relax the cillary muscle in the eye which controls accommodation, which is the ability of the eye to see close to and far objects.

In small children this muscle is very tight, and it means that you cannot get an accurate refraction without the drops especially in children who are longsighted. Longsighted children often squint, as squints are sometimes intermittent, you can miss it if you don't put the drops in.

As an example. If I did a normal refraction on my daughter - it comes out at about +1.75, with the drops, when she was little, it was around +5.00!

Does that make sense? It's really important you get it done, especially if she is closing one eye sometimes. Binocular vision problems need to be treated when a child is young or they can cause a permanent weakness.

Incidentally, diagnostic tests are just that - they are to see if you have a problem, so sometimes they will be negative.

FlibbertigibbetArmadillo · 15/09/2021 14:52

I have staining drops in every time I go for an eye test but not dilation drops.
I believe dilation drops stop kids 'cheating' on the exam by instinctively squinting to read the lines, so it's possible he suspect that is what is happening?

underneaththeash · 15/09/2021 17:00

@FlibbertigibbetArmadillo we don't test little children's eye like that, we use a light - called a retinoscope to get their prescription.

The flourescein drops you have are to check the integrity of the cornea.

TreeTed · 15/09/2021 17:04

Bloody hell. Please always keep appointments a medical professional has recommended , why wouldn’t you?? There might be something else he wants to check out. Don’t mess with your daughters vision.