Your child’s eyes are special. Not only does their vision help them to find out about the world around them in their early years, it allows them to learn and discover new things as they go through school.
Younger children often don’t verbalise any visual problems because they do not have a point of comparison between what their sight should be and what they are experiencing. Without having an eye test, there is a risk a problem may not be spotted which could affect their development and their ability to pay attention in class.
There are a lot of things an eye examination can tell about your child’s vision even if children cannot tell us directly or specifically. Our specialist optometrists will be able to determine whether your child needs glasses and, if so, the best and most comfortable glasses correction (prescription) needed to achieve normal vision. Additionally, an eye examination is important for checking and monitoring eye health. At Taylor-West & Co Opticians in Battersea and Dulwich, we carry out comprehensive health checks of the front and the back of eyes, and take retinal scans with advanced imaging technology as part of a routine eye exam.
Hypermetropia, also known as long-sightedness, is when objects appear clearer in a distance compared to closer up. When left uncorrected, close up text could appear blurry, so headaches and eyestrain could occur when your child is trying to focus on detail. This could affect their academic performance in school.
Astigmatism is a type of refractive error due to an irregularly shaped cornea (commonly explained as the front of your eye shaped as a rugby ball). This condition results in distorted and blurry vision at any distance, which could cause eyes to strain, have difficulty seeing in low light and may even cause headaches.
Myopia is blurry long-distance vision, often called ‘short-sightedness’ or ‘near-sightedness’. A person with myopia can typically see clearly up close but words and objects look fuzzy on a whiteboard, across the room or when looking outdoors. In the past 5 or so years, eye professionals have developed a much better understanding of myopia and how to better manage it.
Myopia is found to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. It usually starts in childhood or teenage years, and tends to progress fastest in younger children. This is due to their eye length growing too much too quickly, and/or continue to elongate as they grow, therefore the most important opportunity to slow eye growth is when children are younger. Most myopia is caused by excessive elongation of the eyeball which can cause problems later in life, including increased likelihood of eye conditions such as retinal detachment, cataract, and myopic macular degeneration. The higher the degree of myopia, the higher the chance of being affected by these conditions in adulthood.
The best thing you can do as a parent of a myopic child, or a child at high risk of developing myopia, is try to manage the environmental factors where you can, such as reducing the number of hours your child spends focussing at near, encourage them to take regular breaks from reading and studying, encourage them to spend 90 minutes or more per day outside. You can also take your child to an Optometrist who specialises in myopia management, for regular eye examinations.
Myopia management techniques have been developed with the aim to slow excessive eye growth to a lesser rate and have been proven to slow down myopia progression in youngsters. These methods include:
- Spectacle lenses such as Miyosmart from Hoya or Stellest from Essilor. These are very unique lenses worn as spectacles. They both correct vision, and when properly dispensed and worn during waking hours, they can
help reduce myopic progression by an average of 62%.
- Soft myopia management contact lenses, for example Misight or Naturalvue. These are specially designed soft lenses, worn during waking hours. They typically require more appointments for fitting than spectacles but less than orthokeratology (see below). Adaptation to the lens-on-eye feeling typically occurs in a few days. There are benefits with daily disposables being the safest modality, and the number of lenses retained meaning loss or breakage is less of a practical issue. These contact lenses help reduce myopic progression anywhere between 50-75%.
- Orthokeratology (Ortho-K), or ‘night lenses’. These are special contact lenses which are worn at night, while asleep. They gently, subtly, reversibly and painlessly reshape the front layer of the cornea, so that when the lenses are removed the vision is corrected the following day, with no need for glasses or contact lenses during the day. They can require more appointments for fitting than other types of myopia control treatment. Adaptation to the lens-on-eye feeling can take 1-2 weeks but shouldn’t affect sleep. There are significant benefits for water sports and active lifestyles, and since the contact lenses are only worn at home there is low risk of them being lost or broken during wear. The reduction in myopic progression rate is typically between 50-60% with ortho-K.
- Atropine eye drops have been prescribed as an option for myopia control in children, however they are not currently licensed in the UK for treating myopia.
There is a small risk of infections and complications with any type of contact lens wear. Research has shown that young children have very low rates of eye infections in both soft contact lenses and ortho-k. The risks can be mitigated with good hygiene and maintenance procedures, following all guidance from your optometrist, and attending regular contact lens checks and eye examinations. Wearing Miyosmart spectacle lenses carries no known risk of infections.
Should your child require vision correction, the optometrist is able to assess your child’s suitability for contact lenses. There is no minimum age to start wearing contact lenses. Our optometrist will analyse your child’s prescription and other parameters when fitting contact lenses for the first time, such as cleanliness, dexterity, motivation and lifestyle. Additional teaching, handling and assessment appointments are all part of the fitting process. On average, children only take 15 minutes more to learn how to handle contact lenses when compared to teens.
There are many benefits to children wearing contact lenses. They improve children’s self confidence in school and sport, and their satisfaction with their vision – as much as it does for teens. They could potentially enhance sports performance as they offer a 360° visual experience.
At Taylor-West & Co Opticians, our staff are trained in specialised myopia management methods and eyewear fitting techniques. We will always give the most suitable options for your child’s visual needs and we make choosing eyewear fun and easy! The anatomical structure of your child’s face is taken into consideration and we advise on the best frame fitting, be it for conventional spectacles, high prescriptions, myopia management products, sunglasses/ sun protection, sport-specific eyewear or prescription swimming goggles. We have carefully selected independent eyewear brands that are designed and manufactured to specific parameters taken from measuring children of different age groups, and are passionate about helping and rewarding your child.
68 Northcote Road, London, SW11 6QL
80 Lordship Lane, London, SE22 8HF