Refraction test (opticians)

[bubblepopbang]

Hello all,
My DD (5) had her eyes tested for starting school in Aug. Perfectly fine results.
Fast forward to last week she had the school test and has now been referred for further testing- refraction drop test and another.
My optician was very unsure about doing the tests going by her previous results in aug saying that sometimes these school tests the children are distracted etc (I know this as work in preschool) and that it's an evasive test for a child who she doesn't think needs it.

Anyway I ended up calling a smaller family run firm and we're booked in for the tests today.
Anyone or their child had this test? As I understand it her eyesight could be blurry for up to 6hours? Just want to hear from someone who's had it done to tell me how it was, after effects etc?
Thanks

Yes, both my DC have had the cycloplegic refraction tests. DS had a sudden onset squint at age 8 which is why he had to have them. His eye test came back as almost perfect vision until he had the cyclo test, but they've said that the squint was probably caused by accommodating for his vision all the time (along with another couple of factors). DD had the test just in case after her brothers squint appeared but she was fine.

Children are very good at accommodating for poor eye sight so when the drops are in, it relaxes the muscles in the eye and means they aren't able to do it as well. It also dilates the pupil so they recommend taking sunglasses with you so they aren't as sensitive to bright lights.
It stings a little as it goes in and for a few minutes afterwards. After a few hours the light sensitivity goes away.

Here is the info about cyclopentolate eyedrops from the College of Optometrists, this is what we hand out to parents before instilling the drops so we can get informed consent.

Side effects are extremely rare (I've never seen any in 7 years) but the drops sting a lot - just for a minute - so some children find it traumatic (I've been kicked and scratched many times!) which is probably why the first optician was reluctant if they did not see a solid clinical reason to go ahead

Children can sometimes be distracted during the school eye test and their vision will not be quite so good on the day, the vision screening test at school requires any child not getting the pass level on the day to be referred for further testing. The cyclopentolate drops will blur near vision for several hours , distance vision can be relatively unaffected depending on whether your child has underlying longsight. As a parent you can opt out of cycloplegic refraction if you have recently had a sight test with the optician. Most children at this age slightly longsighted, which is more likely to be picked up with a dilated exam, however that does not mean that the longsight would necessarily need correction with glasses iif the child can see well and is not getting any symptoms

Did she not get the drops when she had the original eye test? They are pretty standard when doing an eye test on a child

My ds had this done after being referred, following screening at nursery.
He did find it unpleasant for a few hours but not 6.
Incidentally, his vision was fine and he had obviously been distracted during the screening test.

Thank you everyone.
She had the test, eyesight was blurry for a couple of hours but was a trouper about it.
Her eyes are fine, no issues at all, it's likely she was distracted during the school test.