High Myopia in Children

[Suey52]

Hi there
Our nearly 6 year old was diagnosed with severe shortsightedness (high myopia) aged 2. 4 years on his current prescription is -9.5 -11.00 plus astigmatism and is likely to get worse as he grows. The high prescription also means he is very light sensitive and now it seems noise sensitive.
His glasses do not correct his vision 100% and he does have developmental delays as when he was a toddler due to the high prescription he could not be in the full prescription glasses until he was 3.5 as it gradually had to be built up.

We would love to hear from anyone with a child with high myopia about your experiences whether you are at a specialist eye hospital or at your local hospital and to share experiences etc. We feel very isolated as it is not that common and the optician has only seen 1 child in 20 years with our son's prescription.

We want to make sure we are doing everything we can to help our son and being in touch with other parents would be reassuring for us.

I think the plan is in a couple of years he will go into contact lenses once he can cope with them on his own at school.

thank you for reading this

I've worn glasses since 4, now have complex lenses. My prescription is so bad I can't have laser eye surgery!

I've also tried contact lenses, I wore them for a few years as a teenager and then developed dry eyes so gave them up.

I'd agree with the light sensitivity, it's difficult at times but I've adapted.

From my point of view, it sounds like you're doing everything you can. I'd say the best thing is to ensure his glasses are comfortable (the lenses can be so heavy that they leave 'dents' in the nose) and try to get him as lightweight lenses / frames as you can.

Also, there are great glasses for kids nowadays, much better than when I was young!

You sound like you're doing fine! I hope this helps a little.

Suey - I just recommended this site to another mum on here and I think she has found it helpful: there's a wonderful Facebook page called 'Little Four Eyes' which has loads of members with kids with various kinds of visual problems. If you're on FB definitely join!

Thanks for the info. Have just joined Facebook for my sons school so have gone on there and found little four eyes but it also suggested a UK kids in glass support group so have joined that as well. Many thanks for your info.

Hi there thanks for replying. When you say you are in complex lenses what does that mean. My sons has just been prescribed varifocals as he gets very tired eyes trying to read through strong glasses and he seems to like them (only had them a few days). Orthoptist wanted him to have executive bifocals but found they just can make those to his prescription so it had to be varifocals which is unusual in a high myopic child.

Yes from reading on the internet I realise that I don't think he will be able to have laser eye surgery as the higher prescription the more chance it will not work.

At the moment we deal with the light sensitive by using caps and he is just able with his prescription to have reactive lenses but if his prescription gets any higher he wont be able to have those in future so not sure what we are going to do then as it seems to really help him. At the moment we pay to have his lenses reduced so they are more comfortable and to have the reactive lenses as the prescription although we get two pairs of glasses does not cover these. Should we be trying to get more help for the light sensitivity I don't think they realise how bad it is at the hospital can a prescription be made say for prescription sunglasses. Teacher at school highlighted it to us as he simply in bright sunlight cant do anything outside unless his eyes are shaded.

Hi, I haven't worked in optics for a few years so my knowledge may be rusty, but you certainly used to be able to be prescribed an additional NHS voucher for diagnosed photosensitivity in a child for prescription sunglasses.
If he's getting on okay with the varifocals then that is brilliant! Whilst the reading area is smaller on them, an executive bifocal in his prescription would have been incredibly thick. I would fight those at every turn.
I knew of people who would wear a contact lens for say -8.00D & then the glasses for the additional prescription over the top for clarity.
You can often find that the full prescription of contact lenses (depending on the amount of astigmatism) lack the clarity you can get with glasses at this high prescription.

Hi Suey52, my DS, 10 years old, has high myopia as well. He is currently a -20 in both eyes. His prescription would have been higher at 6 than your DS, however he has similar problems with light sensitivity as well. He wears a peaked hat summer and winter.

Even in the house he is very sensitive to the lights. He is not liable for laser surgery either as vision is too bad. Again his glasses do not correct his vision completely but he is using his eyes the best he can for now. The same as your DS his vision will continue to get worse as my DS has progressive myopia.

I found like you there is very few kids with a prescription this high, even the shop where we get his glasses made only have 1 other child with a similar prescription.

We attend the hospital at the moment but not sure how long this will continue for as normally they discharge them to a local optician when they are 12 but I think they DS will continue to attend the hospital for a number of years yet.

Hi there thank you for your response. The info you provided is very useful. the thickness of the bi focal was not explained to us so I am glad he cant have those as they simply cant be made at his prescription and the varifocals he seems to be getting on with. The dispensing optician recommended a D35 bi focal instead of the exec but orthoptist turned this down but suggested the varifocal which is even smaller part of the lense than the D35 would be so I find that strange. When we next have glasses I will ask re prescription sun glasses as at the moment he can have reactives but I think he is at his limit for prescription on those.
We were told contact lenses will be a necessity for him as he grows up may be as young as 8 and he will see clearer with them so will bear what you said in mind. many thanks

HI Orange32 thank you so much for responding it is nice to know that other children out there. does your son have visual advisory teacher visit the school. Has wearing contact lenses ever been mentioned to you or is he not suitable. Did your ds have developmental delays because of his vision . Has anyone suggested that you go to specialist eye hospital eg Moorfields and not the high street optician
DS has hereidary high myopia with astigmatism which his father has to a lesser extended, his paternal grandmother had, his great aunt has. Unfortunately he is the only grandchild to inherit this.
Sorry for all the questions just great to know someone else with a child with high myopia

I have high myopia -14.5 - 15.5 with high astigmatism. I've always had very high prescriptions and was prescribed contact lenses at 12 (I'm 38 now so that was going then iirc). I have soft toric lenses that I get from Moorfields eye hospital. My glasses are 1.9 high index that I actually get from asda opticians on their amazing two pairs deals they always do which saves me hundreds and hundreds. I prefer wearing lenses especially in the summer or for sports as the glasses move on your nose doing sports.

Young then not going

hi Suey52, we are living in Ireland. DS attends the eye specialist in a children's hospital here but glasses are dispensed by local opticians. These can take weeks to make as they can not make the lenses in Ireland.

Contact lenses have been mentioned over the last few years and we are hoping to try these when he has his next appointment. He has no visual advisory teacher ever visit the school, sitting up the front is all that is done for him in school

He has also has severe astigmatism and is colour blind as well

DS was recently diagnosed with Aspergers and Dyspraxia in the last couple of weeks.

Myopia does run in my family as well but nowhere near as bad as DS has it, it is progressive and will continue to get worse over the years

It is good to hear from other parents with kids with severe myopia as most people don't understand how severe his vision problems are.

Hi there can you explain to me what high index glasses are as not heard of those. I am hoping that when my son is older we can transfer from local hospital to moorfields as that would be our nearest specialist hospital. Did you get a gp referral to go there or do you get transferred? What other tests do you have to have as an adult eg detached retina I know is a risk. Thank you for responding really useful info.

Hi there thank you for your response. Let me know if he goes into contact lenses how he gets on with them as they are supposed to help with sport etc.

I would push to get a visual advisory teacher at school as she has given instructions for all sorts of things eg painted steps coloured ble all work to be font size 24. She spent time doing close work and then doing board work etc.

I have had comments made to me that why can't he just have laser eye surgery but it is not as simple as that and from what I understand high myopia is not suitable for that.

Can I ask what were your sons symptons of dyspraxia and aspergers?
My ds as well as being light sensitive seems to be noise sensitive. He is not interested in riding a bike but will do if you push him. He is quite lazy but he scoots well.

I agree people don't understand the implications to severe short sightedness.

My ds has prescription swim goggles which are fantastic for him and gives him the confidence to go in water with swim teacher.

hi Suey52, DS is due back to hospital in July so we will be discussing contact lenses again then but still not sure if he is ready for these.

DS also has prescription goggles for swimming. He has been swimming for years now

He has difficulties in social, emotional, physical, organization areas as well which has led to his diagnosis for Aspergers and Dyspraxia. It has always been obvious to us that DS was different to other kids his age. He does ride a bike but this tooks years to to get there and would not be the most confident rider.

He is also sensitive to sound, not as much now he is older

Any other questions just ask

Hi my 1 year old baby girl has the same problem too. She has -13, and -15. May I ask how is your baby now?

Hi, not my child but me (-11). Picked on at -10 in early primary school. I have though confused everyone for having a near stable prescription ever since my first eye test.

I wore prescription sunglasses all the time, with a cheap pair for dark indoors. Later I had reactions but I didn’t really like the .

At school what was important to me each year were things either done in a rush or in front of others

• the first or last coat peg so I never had the issue of finding it in a rush. Same for the trays.

• never to go at the front of lines into assembly, the lunch room etc, panicked me a bit but often offered as a test for good behaviour!

• word bank on my desk early on of spelling of months/ days etc as I struggled with the board

-PE, I had a teacher with common sense. He attached ribbons to tennis balls etc. I could never focus on the ball before it was too late.

• I tended to opt out of outdoor tag style games, looking up and down on even ground meant stuff like tree roots got me and I always lost and got upset because I went slow to compensate

Also wondering how your child is doing now? My just turned 2 year old has -12 in both eyes. I’m shortsighted too, but not that severe.