Lazy eye, squints, glasses etc.....

[cheekyginger]

Im an orthoptist (binocular vision specialist) and a mummy.

I thought i would start this thread in case anyone was wanting any advice, re-assurance, opinions about any eye problems that you wee ones are having.

what prescription is he?

Hi Seona, thanks for your reply. His prescription is + 7.50 -2.00 and +9.50 -2.50

bsue

Such good info on this thread! :)

DD has just turned 2, she has bad eye sight and a terrible squint, however is getting on great with her glasses and won't be parted from them. Anyway, my question is, we are going on our first 'sun' holiday this year - would she be able to get sunglasses? Is that a ridiculous question? Presumably if she had never worn glasses I wouldn't have bought her normal sunglasses as I wouldn't think she would keep them on? She always has seemed to have sensitive eyes, the only time she ever screams blue murder is when the sun gets in her eyes in the car, which is what got me thinking about sunglasses in the first place.

you can get prescription sunglasses - ask at her opticians

Thank you cheeky

I have calmed down now and will wait for the appointment to come through now. Shouldn't be too long hopefully.

Hi cheeky ginger just thought I'd update. My 2 1/2 yr old DD had her second appt at hospital with orthoptist and (different) consultant. her vision has deteriorated so that she needs patch 1 hr a day, and now glasses for astigmatism.

I have a few questions that have occurred to me since the appointment...

Will the glasses help correct the bilateral divergent squint? Or would that only work if the glasses were correcting myopia?

She loves the patches - should we take advantage of this and keep them on longer?

Thankyou!

Hi cheeky ginger just thought I'd update. My 2 1/2 yr old DD had her second appt at hospital with orthoptist and (different) consultant. her vision has deteriorated so that she needs patch 1 hr a day, and now glasses for astigmatism.

I have a few questions that have occurred to me since the appointment...

Will the glasses help correct the bilateral divergent squint? Or would that only work if the glasses were correcting myopia?

She loves the patches - should we take advantage of this and keep them on longer?

Thankyou!

Hi Cheeky Ginger, I'm new to this but having now read through all the posts in this thread, and having a DS with a high prescription, I have a number of questions I wonder if you would be kind enough to answer. He saw an optician who said he has severe longsightedness, made a referral to hospital and gave him a temporary prescription. His current lenses are thick but he has willingly worn them. The same optician was the 'consultant' at outpatients much to my surprise. She said his sight has slightly improved and gave the updated prescription +7.50 -2.00 and +9.50 -2.50 still high. He is 5yrs old. There was no mention of squint or lazy eye nor patching. Is he likely to need patching at some point? If we pay for his new lenses to be thinned, will this help with magnification of his eyes? Should he wear sports glasses with his degree of problem? Is further improvement likely? Many thanks.

Hi bsue,

I wasnt sure about this one so i asked my DH as he's an optometrist. How handy!!
He reckoned yes it would reduce the magnification of his eyes.

Check out this web page in the aspheric section. He also said this will cost you extra. His practice charge around £50 for thinning.

Hope that helped
www.visualeffectsoptical.com/high-tech-lenses

bsue.....i hadnt realised you had posted again oops...

He would only need patching if his vision was reduced in one eye, and i thought this would have been mentioned before now.

See my earlier response about the magnification/thinning.

As for sports glasses it depends on what sports he is doing? Yes he has a high prescription but i have seen many kids that manage without their glasses for sports. It's a difficult one to answer as sometime you dont really know till they've tried them.

As for improvement, your DS is only 5 so some change can be expected as he grows but he will always need glasses. Contact lenses will be possible as well but will not be the cheaper daily option, more likely to be a 3 monthly disposable (DH again!)

No probs whyme2

Hi SmileItsSunny,
Thats great your LO has taken to the patch so well!! I wouldnt want to say yes to increasing her patching without knowing her vision etc. If she was only given 1 hour then its likely her vision wasnt reduced too much, therefore you really wouldnt need to increase it. Have you got a contact number for the dept could you speak to one of the orthoptists and run it by them?

With regards to the squint. Is the squint constant or only their now and again (intermittent)? If its intermittent, the patching and the glasses (of any prescription) can help improve the vision and therefore stimulate the binocular vision which can in some cases keep they eyes "straighter".

Hope that made some sense

Hi...still loving this thread.

I posted back last year about the progress dd was making with her squint, long-sightedness and astigmatism. She was being patched for 3 hours a day then, and following her most recent appointment with the orthoptist, this has been reduced to just 30 mins a day

To all of you struggling with keeping the patch on your little ones, please stick with it. The results are incredible, and it does get easier. We found that a poster from the clinic where she could stick her patches after she'd worn them was the most effective tool - the excitement at seeing the princesses 'dress' appear as she added more patches was really useful as getting her to wear them, but actually after a while it becomes a daily regime anyway that she does without being asked now.

Good luck all

Thanks for that isit,

Nice to know those posters actually help!!!

Hi Cheeky Ginger, Many thanks to you and your DH for the helpful response. We were told that DS will always need to wear glasses or contacts so its good to hear thinning will help with magnification.
Like most 5yr old boys he likes contact games such as football and has been asking to try karate. We dont want him to miss out but obviously want to keep him safe.
With others here talking about squints and patching I did just wonder if this was something we will need to face, but from what you say, maybe not.
Again, many thanks for you help.

Hi cheeky ginger thankyou again. No I don't think DD's vision was too bad so we won't push it! It's an intermittent squint; glad to hear the glasses will help. Although she does tend to peer over them rather. Thank you!

Hi Cheekyginger

I noticed that my DD (4) was squinting (right eye turns in) when she was poorly with a temp/ ?viral infection a couple of weeks ago. Put it down to being poorly and tired.

However since then I have noticed it on a number of occasions - probably most days - and a friend noticed today too. It is quite obvious and she literally goes 'cross eyed' but just in her right eye.

I had never noticed before the illness. Could it be something to do with this or a coincidence?

I have made an appt with my GP next week to get her checked out and referred if necessary.

Also if it is needing treatment would this most likely be glasses in the first instance? or a patch? or both?

Thanks in advance.

My 6-year-old son complained of double vision this morning. He goes to the optician regularly to have his eyes checked (with his older brother, who needs glasses for an astigmatism) and his eyes have always been fine. Should I take him back to the optician or go to the doctor? I'm worrying a little about what it might be. I will check again with him when I collect him from school, hoping that the double vision has gone and it was just an blurry, waking-up thing.

Hi NeedsInspiration,

The virus/illness is purely coincidental. If a child is unwell it can allow these things to become apparent. It would have presented itself in the future.

When you go to your GP. From what you have described about the onset of your DD's squint the GP might panic and get you an emergency appointment at your local eye clinic. Squints generally present around the age of 2-3, so your DD is slightly older. Also the fact that you seemed to notice it suddenly. Some squints tend to be noticed gradually for a few months before parent do anything about it. But dont panic i have seen plenty of squints persent this way.

Is there family history of squints, glasses or patching?
It is likely that your DD will require a glasses assessment and may be longsighted. If she is longsighted then i would recommend that she is in her glasses asap. You could speed this up and in the meantime go to your local optometrist and get her eyes tested. Tell the optometrist you are due to see your GP but wanted an assessment in the meantime. They may even be able to refer you and save you going to your GP (I dont have anything against GP's but they wont be able to do much more than a very very basic assessment and their referal will be based purely on your history).
It is unlikely your DD would need patching unless her vision is reduced in her right eye. Patching is only used when the vision is lazy in one eye. If the squint happened recently then fingers crossed her vision should be affected to much if at all.

Sorry for the massive post!

Hi ToffeeWhirl,

If someone has double vision then it generally means their eyes are not pointing in the same direction i.e they have a squint.

Can you see anything funny about his eye when he is complaining of double vision? How long did it last for? Have his teachers mentioned it? I have to say some kids complain about these things and their is absolutely nothing to worry about.

Try not to ask too much about it. As these things can snowball if you question kids too much or too often. Just see what he says over the next few days. If he still mentions it now and again, I recommend that you take him back to the optician and get him assessed just to see if anything has changed.

But saying that, any persistent double vision associated with a headache/nausea should be seen by the GP immediately.

Thanks, Cheeky. He came out of school complaining that his right eye had been hurting all day and felt as if he had something in it. However, it's not red or weepy and he can keep it open . I asked him about his double vision, but he didn't seem troubled. He was perfectly all right for the rest of the day and didn't mention it again. I can see what you mean about not making too much of it. He doesn't have any sign of a squint.

I had a scratch on my eye a week or so ago and had to go to the minor injuries dept at the local hospital - I wonder now if DS is copying. I had all the symptoms he is describing.

Thanks again.

I'm glad I've seen this thread! My daughter (six months old next week) has had wonky eyes since birth, and hasn't grown out of it yet. Not sure whether she should have by now. Initially, I would have said her right eye turned inwards more than the left, but now it's most definitely her left eye that's most affected. Sometimes it's more pronounced than others, but I notice it all the time and in photos etc.

I had a squint as a child, requiring patches, and now as an adult I have fairly crap vision - high astigmatism, long sight. I was premature though, so I would be inclined to blame it on that rather than there being a hereditary aspect to it. My husband and all of his family, on the other hand, are all badly short sighted!

Mentioned it to the HV, expecting to be told it was nothing to worry about at her age, but said it was worth getting a referral considering family history. First GP I saw said I needed to take her to an optician, and if they believed there was a problem, she would refer. I was a bit dubious about this, and sure enough two high st opticians looked at me like I was bad when I asked if they could test a baby

Took her to another GP who agreed there was "a lag" and would do a referral. Waiting to hear back now. So my question is, how common is this in a nearly six month old, and what the course of action would be if a problem is detected?

looked at me like I was mad*, stupid phone.

Thanks so much Cheeky for such a comprehensive response.

There is a family history of lazy eye - my sister had one around 3yrs old. Also my sister and DD's dad both have astigmatism.

DD was born prem with an extremely low birth weight and I understand that this can also be a 'risk' factor in developing a squint.

I am not like to be able to get her to an optometrist before the GP appt next Fri but will try to do so.

Re the GP may panic re sudden onset and the fact she is 4yr, is this because sudden onset could be an indication of something more sinister? - Promise I am not panicking

Thanks again

Oh and she has been complaining that her eyes are hurting this week. She has however overheard me mention about her eyes to my mum.

Would a squint make her eyes sore?/tired?

Oooooooooooookay so I googled sudden onset estropia and now I'm panicking a little would I be mad to take her to Out of Hours GP tomorrow?