5 Year Old Long Sighted

[cpe1978]

Hi Everyone,

I am posting here really just to say some things out loud and to see whether anyone has had similar experiences.

My DS 5yrs 4mths received a letter from the school nursing service in his reception year to say that he had failed the eye exam and he was referred to a hospital optician. Through a number of admin cock ups nearly nine months later he had the appointment and it turns out he is long sighted. This is a shock to me as neither me nor my wife have any eye issues.

He has been given a prescription for 3.5 in one eye and 2.75 in the other and my understanding is that the primary objective of this is to rebalance his eyes and to prevent one of them becoming 'lazy'. However there are a couple of things that the optician said which have been playing on my mind since. At the time I was surprised he needed glasses and so didnt ask the questions and typically with the NHS there is nowhere to go for further information so I just have to wait it out until the next appointment in three months.

So, my son sees perfectly as far as an observer would see. He reads well, even tiny print, plays computer games and is a talented sportsman. He rarely complains of headaches or anything else.

I think the optician hinted that they were lowering his prescription to start with - has this happened to anyone else? How much do they tend to lower it by? I suppose I am trying to get a sense of the severity of the issue.

The second thing is that I am completely overwhelmed with guilt for not chasing this sooner. I understand that the visual system develops until about 7, he will be 5.5 at his next appointment and I am struggling with the idea that we have left it to have any effect.

The final thing is that I have no idea how longsightedness typically plays out. Is it likely to continually degenerate or is it just one of those things that kicks in when the eye is growing and then stabilises when it stops?

Sorry - i do appreciate that these questions must seem ridiculous, but I have realised on leaving just how little i know.

Hello

My DD is also long-sighted, with a prescription of +4.5 in both eyes. Does your DS wear his glasses all the time?

He is getting his first pair tomorrow - I am just angry at myself for not asking the right questions, and a bit angry at the NHS (who i work for) for not understanding that what is routine and mundane to them is new and a bit scary to other people.

I think he is supposed to wear them all the time, to rebalance the eyes as he has a different prescription in each.

there's no hard and fast rules for this sort of thing

children tend to be longsighted (+ lenses) and get less so as they grow up

depending how cooperative the child is the prescription can be modified to a best fit sort of thing, but frequent re-exams and the child becoming more familiar with the routine will quickly lead to a more accurate result

the main thing to worry about is the acuity of vision rather than the size of the numbers in the lenses....this essentially means trying to get the visual system to see as well as possible, to ensure stereoscopic vision, and to make sure there is no amblyopia (lazy eye)

My DD is longsighted with a +3.00 prescription in each eye. It was explained to me that this is right on the borderline for needing to wear glasses ... Anything less than a +3.00 generally doesn't need glasses and anything over, does. Currently my DD wears her glasses all the time as we've been told this is better while her eyes are still developing and growing (she is 4) but that longsightedness is something that can improve with age. With longsightedness, the eyeball is literally long / oval shaped so as the child grows, the shape can change and the eyesight improve. So whilst it's better for her to wear her glasses all the time now, this may change as she gets older.

We only discovered she was longsighted as she suddenly developed a squint so had various eye examinations relating to that. She'd never shown any sign of having eye issues and there was no way we could've known so don't beat yourself up about not noticing. I was told most children with eye problems don't get diagnosed until they have their first eye test at school.

Thanks both - we didnt notice anything at all, and even now there is no visible evidence of eye issues. My son was practicing reading the ingredients on the back of a packet of popcorn last night!

I think i need to try and dispose of my control freak, perfectionist nature and trust the professionals :)

Just stumbled across this and having a very similar issues with our 5 year old. Six months ago she was tested and no issue was presented. Six months later we have got a significant prescription of +3 and +5. As parents we had no idea and the same as mentioned above, no issues with reading, writing, etc. All a bit of a shock given that she does not seem to present with any obvious symptoms. Sitting in the eye test it was clear that she was not able to identify the objects, just can't quite work out how we missed it.

It's actually fairly easy to miss longsightedness in children, especially if it doesn't cause a squint as they are able to alter the focus of the eye lens very easily and see fairly clearly. However, if you don't correct it with glasses they can get eye fatigue, concentration issues and the eye may not develop properly causing amblyopia (lazy eye).

It can also sometimes be missed too at the opticians, especially if the eye drops aren't used, or if they aren't left left long enough after putting them in. I saw a child last week who I suspected was quite longsighted, but it wasn't until 45 minutes after the drops had been put in that I was able to get her proper prescription which was +5.00DS in both eyes.

Thanks for the info.