DD age 6, no concerns re eyesight been given v strong prescription for longsightedness but prescription says she is short sighted? 2nd opinion?

[k8lim]

Hello, first time poster. So DD is 6, zero concerns at any pre-school / p1 eye tests. I’ve noticed over last month she is squinting slightly in morning when tired. Took her to boots last week, no obvious concerns raised and optometrist said right eye slightly weaker but she didn’t think needed prescription. I went back today, she has the drops in, no further tests (letters etc) and has been given a prescription for +6 and +5. The optician didn’t explain what that meant (nobody in the family wears glasses) and I only actually read prescription after we left. What is v strange is below the prescription it suggests she is short sighted but the prescription is for long. Any help? Should I get second opinion? Thanks

Long sighted means her distance sight is better than her near sight which is the opposite of what you've said here. She needs help with close work rather than to see things that are further away

My dd was 13 when we discovered she had an issue with her sight. She thought she saw like everyone else and had no idea everyone else was seeing clearer. Her issue was not seeing in the distance and she says she always wondered why the teacher wrote on the board when no one could see it!! We only realised when l recognised someone in the distance and she casually said how do you know it's him..l said l can see him..she said no you can't. My heart stopped when l realised she actually couldn't see that far. Got her checked and it was quite serious especially in one eye. That was her normal so don't beat yourself up. Better now at 6 than much later. My dd did the whole of Primary without glasses.

Optometrist said "slightly weaker" - that prescription doesn't indicate a slight weakness at all - the opposite in fact. Have they given her the wrong prescriptions?

Second opinion Id say.

(Sorry - not read the whole thread - apologies if I'm not being helpful) z

@WelshMoth the right eye is more long sighted than the left. The optician made the comment before testing with the dilating drops.

I'd speak to the optician before deciding the prescription is wrong

It sounds as if you are on top of everything. I’m sure you will get it sorted.

i am long sighted and have worn glasses since I was 3. When I was a child I had a prescription of about +4 but I found that I could go without my glasses for periods of time; my eyes just coped. I only say this to reassure you that although she seems to have no problems she may still need them.

i love my glasses. When I was little and had had a period of not wearing them putting them on was like getting into the nicest warm bath ever.

Good luck to you and your DD.

That type of prescription- whilst being long sighted- would be for full time wear, hence why they've probably ticked the box that says 'distance'.

It's very likely your child is good at accommodating to see clearly, as they've used cyclo. The prescription will stop her eyes having to work so hard to see clearly.

She'll probably say things are blurry when she first puts them on- or that everything is really big/close- that would be completely normal and I would expect that to get better over a couple of days.

I got a second opinion on my DS needing glasses. It turned out the first was wrong and this was Specsavers with a lady that was very keen to push glasses on him. Best decision ever to get a second opinion and he is completely fine some five years later at 13 , top of many subjects and A teams for cricket and rugby at school., also captain of the A team. I'm just mentioning this to show he really didn't need glasses.

I am long sighted with astigmatism and my prescription has always said distance, which confused me when I was old enough to start taking notice of the numbers. My understanding is distance glasses are or can be worn all the time, while reading glasses would only ever be worn for reading/close work. According to this from Cambridge University hospital, both long and short sightedness can cause blurred vision at all distances.

I stopped using boots a few years ago after my new glasses had the wrong prescription. Never had a problem with Specsavers or vision express. I would try them.

You can't put adult interpretations of prescriptions onto kids. Kids have smaller flatter eyeballs and are therefore often naturally long sighted, but they can use muscles to focus so don't need glasses.

It's very common to outgrow it as they get bigger, using the muscles is a normal part of development.

It's certainly worth getting a second opinion. Wearing the wrong prescription is horrible.

With vision what you know you often think is what you should know.
I was 10 when I realised you weren't meant to see double at close distances. When my sister got glasses she realised you were meant to be able to read road signs before you were on top of them. She thought they were a waste of time as she already was on the junction when she could read which lane she was meant to be in. My boss only realised he couldn't see people's faces when he started uni and was with new people being with people he knew before this meant his brain was filling in the gaps.

The brain is amazing at adapting! It's always worth asking for clarity or a second opinion when you don't understand something

The thing is with children is they don't know any different . Their sight has always been like that so she wouldn't complain because it's her normal

My son has +6 and it's quite a significant prescription but my logic is if he needs glasses doesn't matter what the prescription is . I just hut the coolest ones I can find and he is happy to wear them .

No one else wears glasses except him in our family either ( unless for ageing eyesight ) so it was a shock when he was a baby finding out but he does have SN

The other thing to note is loads of kids around her age start to wear glasses as the eyesight is checked in school . A lot of my son's peers all started wearing them around that age and my son sort of blended in after 6 after having had them since he was a baby .