The days are cooling down and Fall isn’t too far away. It’s hard to believe, but it is time for kids to go back to school. But as kids are packing their backpacks with fresh school supplies, we have to consider if they are ready visually to go back to school and learn.
At Vista Eye Care in Thornton, Colorado, we recommend yearly eye exams for all our patients, adults and children alike. Children in particular are vulnerable to a host of eye problems because at young ages, their eyes are not done developing. We follow the American Optometric Association guideline of seeing children for their first eye exam at 6 to 12 months of age. This first infant eye exam establishes if the child requires early eye correction to address high spectacle prescription, or a difference in prescription between the eyes that could interfere with normal eye and vision development. If there is a significant spectacle prescription (called a ‘refractive error’), amblyopia (also known as ‘lazy eye’) may result. This exam also allows our optometrists to look for disease abnormalities such as retinal issues or congenital cataracts. Provided higher exam frequency isn’t required by an abnormal finding at the infant examination, the child’s next exam should be before they start kindergarten.
A pre-kindergarten exam is able to take advantage of the maturing child’s ability to communicate what they subjectively perceive. Visual acuity (how small a letter/shape one can correctly identify) is assessed, color vision is assessed, and the older child is usually more cooperative when it comes to checking health in the back of the eyes with the biomicroscope. Should the child require spectacle correction, glasses may be prescribed and fit. Our optical department strongly recommends shatter-resistant lenses for all children under 18 years of age. Wearing glasses is important not just for visual correction, but also for protection against ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun. After this pre-kindergarten examination, we typically will recommend annual check-ups through a patient’s life.
During school years, a child’s vision tends to move more towards nearsightedness from a position of slight farsightedness. Somewhere around the ages of 7 or 8, a child’s eyes should be near zero spectacle prescription (a state known as ‘emmetropia’). Just because a child is farsighted at a young age, doesn’t mean they will be farsighted their entire life, however). If a child started out significantly farsighted, they may be farsighted their entire life.
Nearsightedness tends to develop in school-aged children and needs to be identified early. A child that squints, has an unusually short working distance (i.e. holds books very near their face while reading), or has trouble seeing in general may have untreated nearsightedness. Children with nearsightedness tend to do quite well with glasses, as they very quickly recognize that wearing the glasses allows them to see their world.
Teenagers’ vision needs to be checked yearly to assure good sight and to account for growth spurts which may affect the refractive state of the eye. A child growing taller may experience a relatively sudden increase in their spectacle prescription, meaning even their old spectacles will not provide adequate vision for use in school. While we recommend yearly comprehensive eye and vision examinations, if your child is having difficulty with their spectacles in the middle of the school year, we encourage you to bring them in for a brief office visit to determine whether or not their existing spectacles are adequate. Should their vision have changed enough, a mid-year spectacle prescription change may be required to optimize their vision.
As your children eventually go to college and the workforce, they may begin to experience eye fatigue. College students and patients in the workforce may also experience computer vision syndrome (CVS) which can be easily addressed by prescribing occupational lenses such as the Sola Access lens or the Shamir Office lens.
Besides having only vision checked each year, a comprehensive eye and vision examination evaluates eye health and functionality. Our eye doctors will check the health of the tearfilm, cornea, iris, lens, vitreous gel, retina, macula, and blood vessels. We check all our patients for signs of systemic disease including diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, and high cholesterol as well as ocular diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma, and blood vessel abnormalities. Our optometrists are quick to communicate any significant findings to your primary care physician with a full report, and we are glad to provide you with a copy of that report for your records. It’s been said that eyes are the windows to your systemic health, and in fact the human eye is the only part of the human body where living blood vessels can be observed without any invasive procedure.
A lifetime of good health starts with your children’s ocular healthcare. Make sure they are in a good position to learn by having their eye checked yearly. School screenings, usually a simple reading of a letter chart, rarely address issues of focusing, eye coordination, color vision, ocular health, farsightedness, astigmatism, and ocular surface issues such as dryness or ocular allergies.
If you have any questions about your eye health, your children’s eye health, or to schedule your yearly check-up, please contact our office.