Any opticians? Or parents with kids who have had eye issues?

[Tangofantastic]

Since a virus last week (connected?)
my DD7 has been excessively blinking, I put it down to just “one of these things” but she said today her eyes feel heavy and dry and sore and at school today was concentrating on reading the word “favourite” and felt like it flipped round to start with the e and end with the f.
she had an eye test maybe 8 months ago which was totally fine.
do I need to rush for a check up or is this more likely to be a transient thing and I need to keep my health anxiety in check? I should add she said no problem reading whiteboard but found lights a bit sore on her eyes.
thank you 🙏

I would take her to the optician for a check up. They also check eye health as well as sight. They are trained to spot infections, inflammation and so on and can refer directly to emergency eye clinics at the hospital if anything is going on.

I too would take her to optician. My dd had some eye issues and the local independent optician was brilliant.

Huge thanks. I’ll try and make an appt for next
few days. Any ideas what it sounds like? I need to not Google due to my health anxiety 🤦‍♀️

Id just phone them first thing tomorrow, they might be able to squeeze in a child who is having problems asap.

Thanks! It was specavers we went to before and they seemed
really good with her so hopefully they’ll see her this week.

They should really see her the same day with those symptoms.
Sore eyes, light sensitivity, dry- it could be nothing or it could be the start of uveitis.

it just sounds as if they’re a bit dry. Viral infections can cause a viral conjunctivitis, which tends to leave eyes a bit dry.

@IslaWinds nothing to suggest uveitis in the OP, the type of photophobia you get with uveitis is disabling and eye are painful not sore.

Can’t say a big enough thank you 🙏

She did say they felt dry so this is reassuring. Think I panicked when she said the word had moved around to read backwards today ☹️ But hoping it’s just from staring at it too long…

She’s a young child, they don’t always use the right words. My DD had uveitis at age 9 and was just as vague describing how they felt. They also had gone to school that day- so it isn’t disabling when it is starting up.

I think it is better to be safe than sorry. An optician can spot the inflammation of uveitis with a ten minute check and do an immediate referral to the eye clinic at the local hospital. Why wouldn’t you want to advise the OP to get a qualified HCP to check her DD’s eyes?

The risk of just waiting days and you being wrong is loss of sight.
Eyes are something that should be taken seriously.
As seriously as a suspected broken bone.

@IslaWinds you're right, very early symptoms of iritis (so uveitis at the front of the uveal tract) are a pricking sensation, circumcorneal redness and usually a difference in the pupil sizes between the two eyes.

But the OP's child has had the symptoms since last week and in both eyes, so it won't be iritis. It's also not a good idea to suggest to someone with health anxiety that their child has a rare (in children with no co-existing medical conditions) serious eye problem unless you're sure what you're talking about.

thank you. I’ve got her an appointment today after school. Definitely no redness and she’s not complaining of pricking or pain Just “heavy and dry feeling” and like she wants to close them.

I didn’t suggest she had uveitis, which isn’t that rare. My advice is to have a qualified optician check the DD’s eyes because it could be something serious like uveitis.

By the way not all the symptoms have been since last week. Only the blinking. The rest started the day of the post.

I think it is very strange that anyone would even attempt to diagnose whether the DD’s eyes are a minor issue or a serious one through a screen. I think it is not good advice to tell a parent it is nothing, and to not bother to see an optician. It is in the child’s best interest to have a professional qualified HCP look at the DD’s eyes and either give the mum peace of mind if it’s not serious or catch something serious in its early stages.

Eye issues are as a serious as a suspected broken bone. Just like I’d tell a parent to go to minor injuries and have it checked out, the same applies to eyes.

Evidently the optician agrees it’s something that needs to be checked today as the OP has gotten a same day appointment.

Great OP! Glad you are getting her checked out. It is always right to seek an opticians advice when you experience eye problems just in case something serious is brewing. Best case she will get the all clear and you can get peace of mind.

We triage people every day over the phone ‘or the screen’.
you put in your post that ‘it could be uveitis’.
uveitis (in all the uveal tract) in under 10’s has an incidence of 4 in 100,000 which means that the scientific classification is uncommon (rather than some random term I’ve made up)
Some eye issues are serious; many not.
you should seek help for eye issues that day if you:
have sudden loss of vision, sudden double vision, flashing lights in your vision with no history of visual migraine (or different to your migraine auras), lots of new floaters, haloes around lights, pain (especially if you have an autoimmune disorder or diabetes), have a penetrating injury, an injury to the eye and it’s still sore a few hours later, a white spot over the coloured bit of the eye. If you have a systemic infection such as shingles again seek medical advice.

contact lens wearers should always remove lenses if they get a red eye and get a immediate check up if the redness hasn’t gone within 24hrs, or recurs on lens insertion or they can see a white spot in the cornea.

Optometrist/optician is usually best place to go as it’s quicker. If you’re not sure just call us and we can easily triage over the phone.

Anyone else: gritty/sore eyes can wait a few days.
the OP has and therefore needs to be seen, but she doesn’t have iritis/uveitis.

My son had similar, lines as in like a fence would wave, things like this and he was diagnosed with optical migraines and had glasses and never had a problem since wearing the glasses

@underneaththeash
You have been nonstop criticising me for telling the OP to take her DD to see an optician and then you also write Optometrist/optician is usually best place to go as it’s quicker and her DD therefore needs to be seen

No optician I know would say so confidently on an online forum without even talking to the patient and asking questions that it definitely isn’t uveitis like you have said. I have only said it might be something serious like uveitis or could be uveitis as my DD had similar symptoms.

You have said it isn uveitis and it is likely viral conjunctivitis. You cannot possibly know this.

The fact the OP got a same day appointment relating the exact same symptoms to an optometrist goes against your gritty/sore eyes can wait a few days comment.

I have to ask are you a GP receptionist what with talking about “triaging” over the phone? If so you desperately need better training.

I've written optician/optometrist as people still get confused about the name, when I first qualified as an optometrist, they'd only just moved on from ophthalmic optician to optometrist and I was the second year which gained that title.

I triage every day. I also speak to "persistent" people who think they know what they're talking about and don't and as I've said before it's really, really unhelpful.

To be clear - I only triage every working day

Pediatric ophthalmologist Stephen Lipsky, MD, urges parents and caregivers to follow the “RSVP” rule. “RSVP stands for: redness, sensitivity to light, vision change and pain. If your child experiences any one of these, it’s a good idea to make an appointment with an opthamologist. If they have two or more of these issues, they may need more immediate medical attention.”

The OP’s DD had 3 of these 4 RSVP symptoms that came on suddenly.

I’m just glad the OP’s optician is better at triage than you are with the “it just sounds as if they are a bit dry” and dismissal.

How did the appointment go? I had something very similar and it turned out to be psoriasis in my eyes! Does she have any skin conditions at all?

I got a gel that you put in at night and it really helped.

Hycosan Night - Preservative and Phosphate Free Eye Ointment to Sooth Dry, Itchy Eyes While You Sleep - 5g amzn.eu/d/3teMPRa

Just wanted to update all you All after you were so kind to reassure me 💞
specsavers today, lovely optician. Did a thorough eye test, they took photos of eyes and put some yellow drops in? For a closer look. She said her eyesight is great, slightly nearsighted but apparently that’s common in children and is less than it was a year ago and not enough for glasses to make a difference she said. She said they look a bit dry so has given her drops and said to keep her hydrated and minimise screen time. Interesting as her lips are quite dry too but she drinks well during the day (well, good enough but I guess Could drink more)
was so glad I went as by today despite sleeping 11 hours she was blinking so heavily it looked like her brother’s Tourette’s blinks he does when he’s tic-ing badly ☹️And was rubbing her eyes making her look exhausted.

THANK YOU for reassuring me and my horrible health anxiety🌻

That’s great news. Much more reassuring to be checked out than to sit and wonder the what ifs. :)

Thanks for the update @Tangofantastic . Glad to hear your Dd is ok .