Child with missing cells at back of eye

[Bexily]

DS has had an appointment at the local hospital Eye Clinic today. He has very bad eyesight and the optician said his eyes are rugby ball shaped rather than round. She also commented that he seems to have some cells missing at the back of his eyes but not where it would effect his sight.

We are going back in 2 months and they're going to take some pictures of the back of his eyes.

What does this mean, should I be worried?

Hi OP.

Rugby ball shaped eyes are usually due to astigmatism, which in itself is not abnormal, most people have astigmatism to some degree.
If he has a lot of astigmatism then it will need to be corrected by spectacles to allow him to see properly and to help his vision to develop normally.

I'm not sure what she means in regards to missing cells though, it could one of quite a number of things, but if they were worried they would have seen you again more quickly than 2 months.

Don't worry because if there is something then worrying about it doesn't make anything any better.

As PP said, rugby ball shaped eyes are not uncommon, they are harder to correct with soft contact lenses so yo need 'toric' lenses if your ds goes down that route in future.

The eye' photograph' is something I have had done a couple of times, I have something on the back of my eye the optician described as a 'freckle' so I have pictures taken to check on it every o often.

The procedure is that they will put drops in ds's eyes, these will dilate the pupil so they can take the pic and they might also give a local anesthetic. DS may well have yellow tears from the drops. They do sting initially but not for long.

Ones your pupils are dilated and you can't wee much other than a blur they take the pictures.

You don't mention the age of your ds. The equipment looks similar to the equipment the optician uses when you have to put your chin on the bar.

They will probably do an examination with a slit lamp too just to make sure they do a complete exam.

Do take some sun glasses with you because the eye lets in more light and sunglasses on the way home will make a difference.

Thank you for your responses.

I know if it was anything to worry about they would have checked sooner, unfortunately I have horrible anxiety when it comes to things like this. I don't let on to DC though. I feel better when I know what's going on, it's the unknown that stresses me out.

DS is 5 so hopefully the glasses will correct his sight. He had the drops in yesterday so we know what we're dealing with, with them but thank you for the info.