Daughter very short sighted

[LittleMissMe99]

My 9 year old has her eyes tested every 6 months. On the last two tests her eyes have got noticeably worse. She's at -4 on both eyes now. The optician said she will probably get worse still. I'm a little concerned as I'm -1.75 and can't see at all without my glasses. Will my daughter be ok? Anyone else with very short sighted children?

Not quite the same but my DD is +5 is both eyes. She wears glasses all the time and manages just fine.

In regards to your daughter I would be asking for a referral to a pediatric ompthalmologist to get a complete eye evaluation and diagnosis.

In my opinion children with eye issues should be seen by a pediatric specialist rather than a standard optometrist.

She has squints in both eyes and was under an ophthalmologist until two years ago. She was sent to a normal optician after they settled. But her eyesight wasn't that bad then. So maybe you're right

I don't want to worry you, but has she got any underlining eye condition? My partner has keratoconus and has -4 eyes, contact lenses are normally the main way to help the condition but he is currently awaiting surgery. He is 26.
I hope you are both okay

Just as a more reassuring tale, I'm currently at -7, but was probably around -4 about your daughter's age. My short sightedness started around 7, and got gradually worse, levelling off late teens.

Yes I can't see much without my glasses, but either wear them or lenses, which I started at 14. Not stopped me from doing anything that I can think of. Never needed a specialist optician. I just had to get new glasses as I grew and my prescription changed. If the optician is otherwise happy with her eye health, try not to worry. It's just one of those things.

Just make sure she knows how to clean contacts properly if she does get them at some point!

I was about the same at her age and am now -5 in both eyes at the age of 40. If she wears her glasses everyday and you take her for tests (and update her prescription as required) religiously it doesn’t have to get really bad.

In our area most of the ophthalmic work that used to be done at a hospital is now done by opticians. Recently my mum had cataract surgery and all pre op and post op care was done by her optician. So if you have a decent optician that will be enough and they can refer your child to hospital dept if necessary.
I was myself extremely short sighted as a child and can’t remember ever not wearing glasses I am at -13 as an adult. Both of my grown up children were extremely short sighted as youngsters, inherited my bad eyesight unfortunately.
Your DD’s prescription will very likely get worse as she ages, sometimes changes come quickly other times won’t change for a while. Society is much more positive about kids wearing glasses now than it used to be in my day, she’ll need to wear them all the time, get used to regular trips back to the optician to get them bent back into shape. You can get prescription swimming goggles which are great if she likes swimming as otherwise she won’t be able to see all in the pool without them. You can get elastic things to secure the glasses for sports and contact lenses are always possible as she gets older, and understands the importance of good hygiene when using contacts. Both my grown up kids wear glasses rather than contacts, one of them was considering a career where he would have needed laser eye surgery but is now pursuing a different career and is not even considering it.

I was similarly short-sighted from the age of 7. It didn't really slow me down at all. I got contacts at 13, then at 35 I had laser eye surgery and went back to 20/20 for the first time in my memory.

I'm now 50 and have good distance vision but struggle with close-up work, as is typical at my age.

Your are right to be a little bit worried OP.

Being very short-sighted (Over -6.00) can be associated with other eye conditions such as cataracts and retinal detachments. There's a lot of research going on at the moment regarding ways to stop children developing high myopia.

There are a few things you can do:

1. Ensure your daughter has plenty of time outside, at least 30 minutes every day as that appears to have a protective effect on development of myopia.
2. Regular screen breaks - at least 10 minutes every hour.
3. There are special contact lenses that have also been shown to reduce myopia progression - hard ones that you wear during sleep (called ortho-k), and soft ones (called MiSight). Only some opticians can fit them.

There are a few other things in the pipeline at the moment too - special spectacle lenses and eyedrops which are being developed. None of them will actually reduce the level of her short-sightedness, but can stop it progressing so quickly.

There is obviously a genetic element too - so there is only so much they can do, having regular exams is obviously important as well.

Incidentally, just being short-sighted would not be a reason to be referred to the hospital. No-one would ever be seen if they saw every child who wore glasses!

@GsMama19 - your partner will have high levels of astigmatism too rather than just short-sightedness. Keratoconus is where the eye develops irregular astigmatism that cannot be fully correct with spectacles.

So long as her eyes are healthy I wouldn't worry to much. I was -6 in both eyes and got my eyes Lasered in my early thirties. Changed my Life. I don't even need glasses for driving now!

My god, -4 is nothing.

I was -15 as a child, I'm now -17, now THAT'S blind

Aside from that my eyes are healthy and I've had no other issues so please relax

By the age of 9 you are normally discharged into optician care. Dd is long sighted and used to be seen by the hospital orthoptist but now goes to the local optician. Short sight tends to worsen I think. Ds was mildly short sighted at his last appointment but hasn't been prescribed glasses yet

There is no need for her to be under the hospital. A ‘standard optometrist’ can handle this just fine. I’d advise you find a practice and optician that you like as she is likely to need regular appointments, especially if she goes for contact lenses at some point. Her prescription is relatively high for her age but by no means unusual.

My DD is -8 in both eyes. Started wearing glasses at 6 and prescription has deteriorated at every test since. She's 15 now, and has contacts for when she wants, but doesn't wear them all the time. Her prescription changes most when she has a growth spurt so hopefully it will start to change more slowly soon. Her problems are definitely genetic as both DH and MIL have very poor eyesight.

One of the best things we did was get prescription swimming goggles. Really helped improve her confidence.

@DonnaDarko It's nice to meet someone else -17.

I've never been able to see much without my glasses but actually wander around the house quite happily without them. You just get used to it. Yes there are certain things you are more likely to suffer with as you get older like retinal detatchment etc but everyone has health issues of some sort.

I was -8 and -8.5, wore glasses from age of 6. I was as blind as a bat. My eye sight didn’t settle down until I was in my 20’s. I wore contacts from my teens onwards. I also had my eyes lasered and I can honestly say it was the best money I have ever spent.

well over 60 extreme short sightedness over -10 - not only are there contact lenses but high reflective index glasses which means that for people like me don't have milk bottles but ultra thin lenses (they do plastic as well as glass & varifocals too) the only thing I have been advised against is bungy jumping (apparently) as it is more likely to cause retinal detachment! -4 isn't that severe & as others advise outside activity & concentrating on distance vision is suppose to be helpful. The only thing people like me have to remember is where you put your glasses at night. I went to the Great Barrier reef & they provided prescription snorkel masks! A friend of mine was in a parachute regiment (not so severely short sighted as me though) & he use to jump with his glasses taped on!