Most adults realize the need for regular eye exams and make sure to see an optometrist on a routine basis. This same diligence, however, doesn’t always apply for their children.
“Unfortunately, a lot of parents only bring their kids in for an eye examination when their child starts complaining that things are blurry, which often doesn’t happen until they are pre-teens,” says Dr. Jayne Cation, Optometrist.
“The hard part is that kids do not know what is normal. Kids do not know it is not normal to have one eye that is always blurry, to see double, or get headaches after reading for a short time.”
The World Health Organization recommends that children start receiving eye examinations as early as 6 months of age, then again at 3 years old. After that point, regular exams should continue annually until they finish school.
Testing children’s eyesight can admittedly be a challenge, says the doctor, but the kids themselves can also be a lot of fun. “There are obvious challenges, such as a shy child or an upset child. However, there are a multitude of objective measures that an optometrist can make,” she says.
She uses handheld pen lights and retinoscopes, for example, which provide a lot of information very quickly. For the really little ones, her clinic is fortunate enough to have handheld auto-refractors that provide an estimate of their refraction. While expensive, these devices are a game changer when it comes to catching unusual prescriptions.
“In the very earliest exams, we are looking for things like congenital cataracts and ensuring the nerves look healthy and retinal vasculature is normal,” says Dr. Cation. She has found very high prescriptions in very young children as well as lazy eyes or wandering eyes.
She stresses the importance of regular eye examinations, especially for the youngest among us. “80% of learning is visual. So unfortunately, unless we ensure that our children’s visual systems are functioning properly, we are potentially risking academic performance,” she says.
It’s not just academic performance that may be affected. “As well, athletic performance depends on your child being able to see clearly and to have both eyes teaming well to judge depth, speed, etc.”
Vision therapy and treatment for myopia
Sometimes, vision therapy (VT) may be required. VT teaches us how to fuse images better, track things, to converge and diverge our eyes more effectively, and localize things in space. Exercises can be done, both in-office and at-home, that essentially teach our brains how to use our eyes more effectively. Some are as “simple” as a brock string, while others include very complex exercises using a variety of specialty equipment.
Myopia, or nearsightedness, is very common. “It is increasingly being considered a pandemic itself,” says the optometrist. “Over 28% of the world’s population is currently myopic and it is estimated that by 2050, approximately half of the world’s population will be.”
The condition is a result of either a steep cornea or a long eyeball. “The issue with a long eyeball is that it is more prone to glaucoma, retinal detachment, macular degeneration, cataracts, etc. And every diopter of myopia greatly increases your odds of getting the aforementioned conditions. Screens and lack of outdoor time in kids is helping cause this rapid increase.”
Fortunately, there are some very effective treatments now that are proven to slow down the progression of myopia in kids. Some of these options include specialty lenses, specialty contact lenses, ortho keratology or atropine drops.
“We are fortunate to have access to axial length measurements at our clinics, which help us quantify how long your child’s eye is and track excessive growth or gauge their risk of being highly myopic. Axial length is increasingly being considered the standard of care for anyone in myopia control,” explains Dr. Cation.
She stresses the importance of routine eye examinations for people of all ages.
Dr. Cation runs two full-scope optometry clinics and dispensaries: Collingwood Optometry and Cwood Eyecare, the leaders in eye care.
Call Collingwood Optometry at 705-300-4083 and Cwood Eyecare at 705-300-3540.