Most children have excellent sight and do not need to wear glasses. It is important for children to have an eye examination to check for eye disorders, which may go easily undetected. The earlier the problems are picked up, the better the outcome. Undetected problems may lead to your child having permanently reduced vision in one or both eyes. Your child does not have to be able to read or talk to have a sight test.
Eye examination are free for children under 16 and for 16-18 years old if in full time education under the NHS. So put your mind at rest and arrange an appointment now to see our experienced optometrist for a sight test. IT’S FREE!
Clinically the main conditions the optometrist can detect are:
1. Long sightedness - eyes are too short. This means they have to focus more than they should, particularly on close objects.
2. Short sightedness - eyes are too long. This means they cannot see objects clearly if they are far away from them e.g. the TV or board at school.
3. Astigmatism - if your eye is more like a rugby ball than a football. This means the light rays are focused on more than one place in the eye. This may make it hard to tell ‘N’ from ‘H’ for instance.
4. Lazy eye and Squint - about 2-3% of children have a lazy eye. This may be because one eye is more short- or long-sighted than the other, or they may have a squint( eyes not lined up together). If you notice your child has a squint beyond 6 weeks old, you should have their eyes tested by the optometrist as soon as possible. If a lazy eye is not treated before the child is aged 7-8, their vision may be permanently damaged.
Wearing glasses will not change the shape of your child’s eyes and will not make the eyes worse. If your child has a lazy eye, wearing glasses may make their sight permanently improve.
1. Preparing for the eye exam - talk to your child about what will happen. Explain that it’ll not hurt and that they will be asked to look at or identify different objects. For young children, the parent(s) are normally present for the exam.
2. Eye screening tests - these will differ depending on the age of your child. The optometrist will check that eye muscles and pupils are working properly as well as test for colour vision and peripheral vision.
3. Eye health - the optometrist will check that the front and back of the eyes are healthy.
4. Testing vision - using lenses and a letter chart or chart with pictures foryounger children, the optometrist will check the child’s vision.
If your child needs glasses, the NHS will give you a voucher towards the cost of your child’s glasses. The voucher may cover the full cost of the glasses.
There is strong evidence that too much exposure to the sun’s UV rays can contribute to development of cataracts and age related macular degeneration. Its important to protect your child’s eyes form the sun’s rays from a young age. Make sure they wear good quality sunglasses with 100% UV protection as well as sun-hats or sun visors in bright sunlight.