Diagnosed Long Sighted - please advise if they've made a mistake.

[GoingLoopyLou]

Ds age 4 has today been diagnosed as long sighted and needs to wear glasses permanently which has really upset me. Having read a lot on the net tonight I'm also confused.

He flew through the close up eye test without a problem but struggled with one eye when the patch was on for the distance part of the test. So his left eye was fine and he has a prescription for +4.5 for his right.

Have ordered his glasses today but I keep reading everywhere that if you're long sighted you cant see close up, which wasn't what he had a problem with. The actual optician even said he had failed this part of the test when she was stood over the other side of the room so I know I'm not getting confused.

Have they made a mistake? Worried his prescription is wrong.

When he goes back to have the glasses fitted, ask them to test him with the glasses on to make sure that they are successfully correcting the problem.

Just ask the optician to explain it to you when you pick up the glasses. They should check him with the glasses on before you go home.

Please don't be upset that your DS needs glasses. I've needed sight correction since I was 3 years old. It's better that he has glasses and sees everything going on, than not wear them and miss half the stuff happening around him.

Spoke with a different optician this morning, the one who is actually making the glasses, and he explained this is sometimes the case as a child actually has a problem close up so the eye muscles work hard to deal with that, so when it comes to looking into the distance which requires the eye muscles to relax, they can't, resulting in a blur. It sounds a bit backwards but makes sense so I guess I've just got to trust them.

Take him to another optitions across town and see if u get the same diagnosis, you don't need to buy more glasses just have the test. X

If he is longsighted and +4.50 in one eye only ( and not almost as longsighted in the other) then this eye will become lazy unless spectacles are worn full time.His sight is likely therefore to be weak in this eye at distance and the spectacles won't immediately improve this but will over a period if worn full time.He is likely to see fine close up in this eye because of his eyes ability to accommodate being so young -old eyes can't do this which is why if you are longsighted your near sight goes as you get older - his sight at near may be good on the initial vision check but would quickly tire and give him eyestrain.
When are they retesting him? I would expect it to be quite soon to reassess the vision is improving in the weaker eye with full time spectacle wear and if not fr referral into the hospital eye service for patching.
On testing young children opticians rely on objective tests looking with a light called Retinoscopy the prescription rather than asking them questions as obviously you can't rely on their answers always at this age.Drops can increase the accuracy of the prescription.
If you are worried I would ask for the optician who tested your ds's eyes to ring you and explain exactly what the glasses are for and how she expects the vision to improve and how she will check for this.You can't really just go down the road for another NHS eye test as the optician has to complete the nhs paperwork for this and would have to get authorisation from the local health authority for retesting a child who has just recently been tested.You could ask for a retest by another optician in the opticians practice you visited if you lacked confidence in the one your ds saw and explain you felt that there was insufficient communication of your ds's eye problems.

GoingLoopy, I can see why you're confused but as Maytime has explained very well, with children it's not always as straightforward as longsighted or shortsighted.

If there is a big difference between the two eyes ( aneisometropia) then the brain chooses which eye to use and will gradually learn to ignore the other one. This results in "lazy eye" or amblyopia which means that no matter what lens you use the vision is not as good as with the other eye.

After wearing glasses, the brain may realise that the "bad" eye is actually useful after all and the vision should improve. If not, further therapy may be needed.

One thing I noted in your Original Post is that you didn't mention a prescription for the right eye.

If it is small, and remains so, it is very unlikely that anisometropia (a significant difference between the two eyes) will cause your child to wear glasses permanently.

They will need to wear them full-time for around 5yrs but after that the anisometropia will no longer need treatment.

Apologies if I misunderstood your OP.

Thanks so much everyone. Mayflower your post was brilliant and you're right he is due another check up in 3 months and if no improvement they will consider a patch. The left eye is perfect, it's just the right one which is a +4.5.

I've been so upset by all this and I know I'm being pathetic compared to what some other parents have to deal with, he's just so tiny and I keep thinking of the impact it's going to have on his day to day life with sports etc.

My DD has long sight - her "good eye" is as badly long-sighted as your DS' "bad eye". She wears glasses all the time and has no problems with sports (she is a very active and athletic child). But do get your DC some prescription sunglasses too, or he will be miserable outside in the summer.

Thanks Bonsoir, I have got him some prescription sunglasses too.