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Children's health

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Original poster

DS, 9, has peripheral vision loss, can anyone advise?

17 replies

Monroe · 16/10/2015 09:46

On Tuesday DS was complaining of Burren vision at school. He was fine in every other way but as he has never had anything like this before we took him to the GP and opticians the following day.

The optician was very thorough, in fact did everything twice, he was there for 2 hours. He confirmed he has weak eye muscles in his right eye and has prescribed glasses but was also concerned about his peripheral vision and wrote a report for the GP.

GP called me at home and said based on the report they have referred DS for an emergency appointment at the eye hospital and depending on the results of the tests he may need further scans. He tried to be reassuring and say they are just being thorough but now I am working myself up worrying about what could possibly be wrong and what it might mean. I've banned myself from Google as it was scaring the life out of me

Has anyone else got experience or knowledge of this? DS is oblivious to my worry, he just can't wait to get his glasses

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Original poster

Monroe · 16/10/2015 09:47

Blurred vision for goodness sake. I have no idea what Burren vision is

OP posts:

Original poster

Monroe · 17/10/2015 17:29

Bump, anyone?

OP posts:

IMurderedStampyLongnose · 17/10/2015 17:31

Bumping for you,that sounds terrifying.Is he well in himself in all other ways?

Original poster

Monroe · 17/10/2015 18:19

Thank you (love the name, can totally understand why you would!)

Yes, he seems perfectly ok in all other ways. I spoke to him some more thinking it had come on suddenly but he says it's been like this for a while, he just didn't realise it was a problem.

The GP rang me again yesterday. The eye hospital don't think it's an emergency which is positive but have said they will definitely see him within 6 weeks.

GP could give me no idea what they are looking for just that they want to investigate more behind the eye and into the brain hence my panic

OP posts:

IMurderedStampyLongnose · 17/10/2015 20:16

Sorry was doing dinner and bedtime.im sure it's hard not to panic,but I think it's a good sign he is well otherwise.how long does he think it's been like this?

Oldmum55 · 17/10/2015 21:39

Monroe if the eye hospital don't think it's urgent then don't panic, otherwise they would have admitted him straight away. Please leave Google alone as we know you always end up reading negative stuff that instead of reassuring you panics you even more. Let us know what the problem was.

Original poster

Monroe · 17/10/2015 23:27

Thank you, I haven't been back on Google (promise!) as I know it will only give me sleepless nights.

He started reading a lot over the summer. He says things have been blurry but I think must have gotten worse recently as he's never mentioned it before. I'd say it's been a few months but could be longer. He just thought it was normal.

The optician also said it won't have just suddenly come on. I will obviously have to wait now for a few weeks for an appointment but will definitely update.

The GP has also said if we notice anything else to go straight back

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GloGirl · 19/10/2015 11:44

Our local eye hospital has an A&E department. If anything causes you conern in the next few days just turn up and get peace of mind a bit quicker.

Original poster

Monroe · 20/10/2015 15:48

Thank you, appointment has come through today for 19th November. We are on holiday next week so will just try to relax and enjoy it and see what the appointment brings

OP posts:

GloGirl · 20/10/2015 16:38

The nice thing about your appointment at the Eye Hospital, if it is anything like the one I go to is that they have all sorts of clever gizmos and can find out so much about your eyes right there on the day.

When I have been I am often seeing consultants getting on the spot second opinions from other consultants and there is lots of information and expertise all at once.

I feel like you will come out on the 19th knowing so much more than when you went in. It's a fascinating place to be and they can see so much about the eye whilst you are there. I visit regularly for my little one who has semi-frequent checks and am awed every time.

Glad you have a holiday to distract you from the wait

(that is the Manchester Eye Hospital by the way, not sure where you are going)

Original poster

Monroe · 20/10/2015 17:58

We are Manchester too!

Thank you for that. I am obviously just hoping they get to the bottom of it and it is nothing serious or progressive.

I have no experience of eye problems so am pretty much in the dark no pun intended but feel relieved to hear we should have some answers soon

OP posts:

cestlavielife · 21/10/2015 15:58

they will put drops in his eyes which means they can look behind the eye to check for any swelling etc. probably unlikely tho, it may be just he needs glasses. be prepared for a very long appt at the hosp as it takes 1/2 hour for drops to work. ie wait to be seen, initial test, get drops, come back after half hour, wait again, get seen again, discuss...

peripheral vision is quite hard to test in kids - they will do a general one where orthoptist brings in an object asking when the child sees it. you can try that yourself - have him look straight ahead sitting down. ask him to tell you when he sees an object you bring towards him from each side.

compare with someone else in family to get an idea of what is normal.

does he bump into things a lot? .

but there are more detailed visual field tests they can do. depends on the equipment they have but relies on the child's responses ie press buzzer when they see the dot. repeat for many many dots. this then draws a picture of the whole visual field and you can see any gaps. my dd has upper right quadrant gap. but that isnt a big deal really.

Original poster

Monroe · 21/10/2015 16:51

Thank you, he was prescribed glasses by the optician when he saw them last week.

He is extremely clumsy! In fact I joke he is the only child I know that can fall from standing still but yes he does often bump, trip fall etc.

I'm relieved to hear there can be issues without them being a big deal. My main worry has been the cause rather than the symptoms.

I'm taking a half day off work to take him so will be prepared for it to last a while

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GloGirl · 21/10/2015 17:19

If it's an afternoon appointment a half day I'd a good idea. If it's a morning appointment I'd be prepared to start work late in the afternoon...

GloGirl · 21/10/2015 17:20

*Is a , not I'd a

Original poster

Monroe · 21/10/2015 17:44

It's afternoon so planning on picking him up at lunch time

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Lwal86 · 03/10/2025 15:49

Can I ask what the outcome of this was please? I've been urgently referred for failing periphial vision test. Eyes were healthy and optician didn't see anything, so they say.
I went in for blurred vision, eyes don't seem to be working well together. Feel like one eye goes a bit lazy
Any advice welcome as going out of my mind

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