My 3.5 yr old is diagnosed with Myopia and I am terrified and confused just thinking about it.

[sarahhoping]

My baby boy was born in Feb of 2020 , just one before lockdown . A kids eye doctor told us he's got myopia of -2.5 in left eye and -0.5 in right eye when we went to her for eye allergies .
She said its likely due to kid not getting enough sunlight during covid lockdown and that without enough light to eyes, the eyeball elongates and hence the myopia.
Since he was dealing off and on with recurring eye allergies, we couldn't get a glasses for him . Because we wanted to be sure his number is -2.5 in left eye, because it seems like too much . This was 2 months ago
We consulted with another doctor today today and after reading from snellen chart, she said his number is -3.5 in left eye and -1 in right eye.
Now I am confused which doctor is correct. Also how it moved from -2.5 to -3 now in right eye, and -0.5 to -1 in left eye. has his number increased or is it simply error and difference of opinion among these 2 doctors. Can the prescription glasses really increase so much in just a couple of months.

Can someone please help me out. I am worried and confused
I am worried for my child's vision . Anyone else faced anything similar ?

@sarahhoping I really understand you are worrying but try not to (if at all possible).
The lack of sunlight during lockdown is a complete red herring (unless you shut your child in a cupboard).
My eyesight was all over the place as a child - particularly during growth spurts. I went to 7.5 at one point plus astigmatism. Now in my 50s and 4.5 (largely thanks to gas permeable lenses) - also meant that I didn't have to have readers until a couple of years ago.

That makes a lot of sense. Get him the glasses he needs, try your best to get him wearing them as much as possible, and perhaps find someone to talk to about your anxiety?

Millions of us are short sighted. We aren’t defective and you don’t want to transmit to him that it’s something awful that is wrong with him.

My 6yr old had a squint which we noticed when he was 2.5. His first glasses which were +4 each eye.
His prescription changed every 3 months because they were 1) trying not to overload his vision, cause headaches and get him used to it and 2) because its difficult to accurately test children. He has now been stable at +7.5 and +8 for the past 8months.
Children are very good at coping....we couldn't understand how he could 'see' things when his vision was poor, but he did.
He has glasses, he wears them all the time. They squint is slowly reducing (only noticeable without glasses).
When he's older, he can chose to look at options, such as contacts or corrective surgery.
But as it stands, there is no problem, no additional risk, no need for us to worry. People sometimes need glasses.

You're talking about short sightedness like it's cancer.

Stop it.

The idea of lack of light causing myopia is surely completely bonkers? Surely...

Dd was found to be short sighted at a very young age. She’s in her 20s now and has stabilised at -13, so very short sighted. Think I’m -10.5.

it will take to early adulthood until the prescription stops changing.

Daylight is supposed to help reduce the progression of myopia so its advised to spend lots of time outdoors

You don't need to challenge anything, you don't need to panic. There is nothing to be "horrified" about.

Your son is shortsighted, that's all, millions of people are short sighted, it's nothing to do with sunlight or Covid, it's just about how well the muscles work.

Getting an accurate reading on a child is difficult so a very very small difference of -0.5 is nothing to be concerned about.

Get him some glasses and get on with it.

I was -4.5 when I was 4 yrs old. My prescription went up and down over the years, finally settling at -5.75.

Calm down and for goodness sake don't let him se you being silly about such a common occurrence as needing glasses, you'll make him not want to wear them and if he needs them then he has to wear them.

From specsavers website:

What more can I do to help if my child has myopia?

There are some things you can do to help reduce the risk of myopia progression:

• Time outdoors can help, two hours or more per day is advised
• Limit time on close tasks and don’t hold books too close
• Take regular breaks from close tasks

I'm really shortsighted. Wondering now if I was kept in the cellar 😂😂.

All of these people saying not to worry are wrong. Sorry OP, not what you want to here. But being -3.50 at that age IS a concern. Especially is he is progressing that rapidly. (For those compare it to '+' prescriptions, it's totally different for future eye health)

Myopia is massively underestimated in children.

Look into myopia control. It is expensive, but peer reviewed studies and have shown their efficacy. Do not let your DC play of phones/iPads for longer than 20mins without a 10min break and limit to 1hr per day, or- at this age- avoid completely.

Each dioptre of myopia increases the risk of retinal detachment, glaucoma and retinopathy. If he's -3.50 now and has increased a whole dioptre in a few months, it's not unrealistic to anticipate severe myopia (and as a result the complications) in adulthood.

-3.5 is fairly high for that age but not catastrophic. Have you looked into having him treated with low dose atropine eye drops? They're not on the NHS yet, but you can go private or apply to be part of trials at moorfields.
My DDs prescription has not got worse since she started on them a year ago and previously she was progressing quite rapidly.

OP really try not to worry. I've been severely shortsighted (now -16 with astigmatism) since I was a very young child. My DH has a weird hereditary cornea thing which he may or not have passed on to the DC. My relatives have glaucoma, corneal disease and other eye issues. Genetically, it's a bit of a lottery!
One DC is fine, the other has developed shortsightedness and has those special lenses in their glasses which slow down deterioration (wish they were around when I was a kid!).
With a high prescription it brings the risk of retinal detachment but that's when its really high and the optician just says try not to get hit on the head.

Ultimately, all you can do is go for regular checks and really not sweat it. Life is too short!

Where are you getting this nonsense?

Hi just to dispel some inaccuracies on here - someone mentioned growing out of myopia, that would be extremely rare and you might be mixing up with hypermetropia (long-sightedness which is corrected with + lenses) most children are born with a degree of longsight which is a small eye and then grow out of it.
Astigmatism is the rugby ball shaped eye again very common in small degrees but can be present in higher amounts when there is a family history.
Myopia or short sight is an eye that has grown a little too big to be in focus. It is increasing across the world and more prevalent in countries like China. Higher levels (-8 and above) do present a higher risk of retinal detachment so there are many many studies ongoing to see if any treatments can slow the progression of the growth (including defocused peripheral lenses and drops called atropine) however the only factor that has been shown to reduce growth is outdoor play and less time indoors doing close work.

Please don't panic and worry. Measurements can be tricky in young children and it does sometimes take a few to get a really accurate reading. Your child's near vision is likely to still be very good and at this age is not needing crystal clear distance vision however the difference between the 2 eyes could cause issues with him using his eyes together so it is important to follow the treatment advised by your opticians ie glasses.

DGD has just started with the special lenses mentioned upthread which will hopefully slow down the progression of the myopia.
I cannot believe what the optometrist said about lockdown and sunshine! I lived my early life in a very sunny country and am very short-sighted! If it was true, surely no one in a sunny country would need glasses. I think it is more to do with genetics. Most of my family are/were short-sighted.

Ask about Myopia control glasses. My dd was becoming more and more short sighted with each visit over the course of a year. Bought her the myopia glasses and she has stabilised with no increase in severity of prescription for over 6 months. Am now in the process of getting the contact lenses for her brother.
The lenses have loads of small circles on the glass which are not noticeable. They work by letting in more daylight to the eye which in turn halts the progression. Second what has already been said about limiting screens and getting outside.

Being terrified is a bit OTT due to some short sightedness. They’re not even extreme numbers/prescriptions.

-3.5 really isn’t horrifying ffs. What’s horrifying is having a child who is actually blind.

I mean your kids gonna need glasses. Seriously?? Your language over this is ridiculous. I know kids with scrips of -10

-3.5 is really not that bad

The latest research indicates that sunlight does indeed affect developing myopia. Parents are recommended to reduce screen use and where possible, have their child use devices outside in daylight.

Hi OP my son was diagnosed at 2 with -9.75 in each eye and astigmatism if it's any reassurance they don't necessarily progress quickly as he's remained relatively stable since then but I can definitely understand how worried you feel but be reassured those numbers aren't high and it definitely isn't because lack of sunlight it'll be genetics. Although they say 3+ hours of sunlight a day can help slow down progression. There's a Facebook group "for little eyes" definitely recommend as lots of parents of kids in glasses and good recommendations for good size frames for their ages.

Ex dispensing optician here and none of that sounds credible at all

Light does t make any difference to the shape of the eye !

If he's a minus prescription it's likely to get better as he grows anyway ,
And it's a very small prescription at that .

Myopia doesn't improve with age. + prescriptions can but myopia doesn't usually

Well, it can improve with middle age...everyone gets a little long sighted in adulthood so for the shortsighted this lead to a slight improvement

I am terrified because a number of -2.5 (as told 2 months back) or -3.5 (as told today) is horrifying for a 3.5 yr old.

My child was diagnosed with -6.5 and -7 at the age of 3.5.

Not one single professional who has managed the care of my child's eyes has used the word "horrifying" or has indicated any cause for alarm or even high caution. "Common" and "adjustable" have been the main words used.

If a medical professional used the word "horrifying" to you, then you should find a different consultant, as they are being unprofessional and alarmist. If someone who is not a qualified opthamologist or optician used the word, then ignore them as they don't know what they're talking about.

We did afternoon/evening patching on my child's weaker eye for about 3 years. As is completely normal, DC's prescription 'worsened' between the ages of 3.5 and 7, going up to -8.5 and -9 at the highest. Now it's down to -5 and -6 and will likely continue to improve until their early teens.

DC has developed excellent binocular vision and sees perfectly with glasses. It has not affected their schoolwork or anything else as far as I can tell.

I think you should seek independent help for the level of health anxiety you are experiencing as it's unusual and must be stressful for both you and your child.