Eye patching for lazy eye

[Pammym]

My DD has a lazy left eye and we have been patching her good eye for the last few months. We started off doing the required 3 hours a day and at her last eye appointment, her left eye had improved slightly so that she could read all the letters of the third line down of the optician's chart (with glasses on). Since that appointment however, we did get a bit out of routine as we have had a lot of building work done in the house and as soon as the builders turned up each morning, DD would whip her patch off as she is v. self conscious about it. We also went on holiday during this period. But we were still managing at least 1.5 maybe 2 hours a day. DD had a follow-up appointment this week and we were told that her bad eye had deteriorated and she could only read one letter off the third line. I am so gutted. Why has it got worse? We have still been daily patching just not for quite as long as we should.

Obviously we are back on track now but I am v. down about the whole thing now and am wondering if patching is going to work for her. I am so worried about her future eyesight if we don't get this to work :-(

Sorry for long post but just wondered if anyone has any experience of this and would love to hear some success stories.

Thanks.

Pammym.

How old is your dd? My wee boy wore a patch for nearly a year and it made a HUGE difference to his sight - but he was three when he started. It is harder work when they are older, but does still make a difference, I believe.
Could you use some kind of reward for her wearing her patch? If ds kept his on for 45 minutes, he got to play on the cbeebies website for the next 45 min - he had to patch for an hour and a holf at a time.
Also, if she's wearing sticky patches, then it might be worth asking for a material one - it slips onto their glasses and is more comfortable. Ds hated the sticky ones, but wore his material one no problem.

I think you need to persevere and make sure she has the patch on for at least 3 hours a day - it used to be an all day patching, but they found that 3 hours would work, but less than that just isn't enough to make the brain remap her eye

eye patches on ebay

felt ones

Thanks CMOT. I will perservere and make sure we stick to the 3 hours.

Pammy.

Thanks FromGirders. My DD is five and a half. She hated the stick on patches which irritated her skin so we do have a cloth patch. Thanks for the link though, I may order some new ones. We do have a reward chart in place and she gets a sticker each time she wears her patch for the required time.

Pammy.

Maybe some cool craft stuff for her to do? Perhaps if she's busy enough it'll take her mind off it?

Good idea, thanks.

P.x

The vision reduced because you stopped compliance with the treatment. That may seem harsh to say but it needs to be clear.
It would be the same if you had been prescribed tablets to take 3x a day but only took 1 and a 1/2.
Lower dose, lower response.

Patching for the treatment takes on average 200hrs. 3hrs a day is at the lower end of standrad practice but can be effect provided 3hrs is done every day.

There are lots of strategies to promote patch wearing. A patch diary, patch posters, encourgaement and persistance all have their place.
I might also suggest patchs which clip onto the glasses. Most UK hospitals have these in stock for those children who find the adhesive ones troublesome.

I would also remind you that it is much easier to do this younger and part-time than later and full-time.
It would be best to persevere now and not have to do during the school days when your child is 7 or 8 (the commonly accepted upper age for patching).

Could you not just make her wear it all day? I know it seems harsh but its the only way to go in my view. DS1s (5) vision in one eye was very bad and he was given a patch 6 months ago. We got one that slides over his glasses. It stays on his glasses and he puts them on when he gets out of bed and takes them off when he goes to bed. The improvement in his vision has been dramatic. The consultant said it is purely because he has worn it so much. He is now phasing out because even with such a dramatic improvement they don't recommend that you stop overnight because the eyes can actually get worse agian not just stop improving. Now that he doesn't have to wear it all the time we keep forgetting because its on off on off and so I can see why you're having trouble.
Her eyes will be formed by the age of 7/8. You have a very small window of time to correct this. do it now.

I feel for you. I was devastated when I found out about DS1 but so much better that she wears it for a year now than goes completely cross eyed/frozen eyed and loses vision permanently.

Its important that she does something visually stimualting with the bad eye whilst she's wearing the patch rather than just generally playing outside.

Things like reading, playing computer games, colouring in small things.

Three hours a day is usually fine at 5. Stick at that x

My DS had an eye patch for a while - it made a massive difference to his vision...progressed to contact lenses at the age of 10 and now plays club rugby with no issues at the age of 15. Persevere and give little treats and rewards for wearing them....he tended to wear the patches at home mostly.

Thanks.

Posted too soon. Should have said thanks very much for all the advice. Am back on track with the 3 hours a day and trying to do as much close work as possible. Next appt is on 3rd August so fingers crossed.

P.x