All About Kids' Eye-sight

[2ppaamm]

HappyAvon:

Hi 2ppaamm, yah, its indeed scary to see their degrees increasing on every 6 mthly visit to the eye specialist...BTW, may I know how long yr children has started on Ortho-K....Do you have any feedback whether the lens will reduce oxygen from flowing into the eyes, thus making the eyes red and puffy in the morning? I got feedback that its better to start the children when they are older like 7 or 8 yo....probably becos bigger children will be able to handle the situation better...will not rub the eyes etc..

DS1 started OrthoK in 2004, when he was in P4. Hm... don't have that oxygen problem. But that doesn't mean other kids might have. But these are hard lenses, and are gas permeable, so they are better than soft lenses, I guess.

My kids did not start earlier than 8 years old, so I guess it is ok. DS2 has got astig since young, K2. I did not put him on the lenses until P2, because I felt he was not ready, and I was also hoping the eyeball will 'round out' when he grows. It did round out a bit, but we are still correcting his astiq with the lenses. He doesn't have myopia.

[HappyAvon]

2ppaamm:

DS1 started OrthoK in 2004, when he was in P4. Hm... don't have that oxygen problem. But that doesn't mean other kids might have. But these are hard lenses, and are gas permeable, so they are better than soft lenses, I guess.

My kids did not start earlier than 8 years old, so I guess it is ok. DS2 has got astig since young, K2. I did not put him on the lenses until P2, because I felt he was not ready, and I was also hoping the eyeball will 'round out' when he grows. It did round out a bit, but we are still correcting his astiq with the lenses. He doesn't have myopia.

Hi, many thanks for your response..I will definitely look more into Ortho-K.

[mathsparks]

grado:

The pinhole glasses is absolutely no use for correct eye sight. The best solution is keep on looking far away around 10 minutes after 40 minutes reading or watching TV.

hey grado,
just becoz you're with a certain brand of contact lenses doesnt give you the right to say the pinhole glasses are absolutely no use. By posting your oh-so-subtle posts in different threads, your efforts here to promote yr particular brand may just backfire.

There're people who've tried pinhole glasses and can vouch that it helps them. In fact, if ds doesnt mind looking like an alien, he wld've worn them to school.

[beeb]

Hi,


Anyone’s kid(s) using/used the Ortho-K lenses or Atropine eye solution to control myopia? Any advises?

My 9 year old son’s myopic reading is going on a worrying increase of average 200 degree increase in about 6mths!!! Search the web on myopia control programs and read about Ortho-K lenses and Atropine eye solution. Not sure about the results and am concern as these programs are not cheap at all… hai…my husband and I are at our wits at what more we can help our son to fight this battle…

Any advise/info from parents with the same concern??

[skirtdressnsuch]

i always forbid my DDs to watch tv lying down! i always say its bad for their eye. but others tell me although they watch tv lying down all e time but their eyesight ok leh :? :?

[beeb]

am told that reading/near work is more harmful to the child's eye than TV watching...! My kids watch less than 2 hours of TV weekly and hardly play on the computer....yet my son's myopia is worrying... :?:

[amylqf]

I have a conversation with one optometrist. Actually it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as the eye hasn’t been trained to see far (even if you are staying at home and doing nothing), the eye will be myopic.


The research has done long time ago that put a monkey into a box for period of time, monkey’s eye became myopia.

so our children are just like the monkeys that have been confined into a small box (our apartment, school) + stress on study and doing near work (read, homework, computer game), hardly exposed to outdoor activity due to our singapore weather. No wonder singaporean has top 80% myopia rate in the whole world.

[mum2one]

beeb:

Hi,


Anyone's kid(s) using/used the Ortho-K lenses or Atropine eye solution to control myopia? Any advises?

My 9 year old son's myopic reading is going on a worrying increase of average 200 degree increase in about 6mths!!! Search the web on myopia control programs and read about Ortho-K lenses and Atropine eye solution. Not sure about the results and am concern as these programs are not cheap at all... hai....my husband and I are at our wits at what more we can help our son to fight this battle....

Any advise/info from parents with the same concern??

Hi,
I've just put my P2 son on the Ortho-K program last week as a result of parents sharing in this forum. Recently, my son came back fr sch with a letter fr HPB to get his eyes checked - that's when i came to ksp forum to look for some answers. And i'm really thankful for all the sharing of real hands-on expereinces that lead me to find out more about the solutions available to curb myopia nowadays.

I am super myopic. When i first started wearing glasses at P3, i was already @ 300 dg!! So from then on, every time i visited the optician, my myopia would increase and i must say, it was really stressful in those hard financial times, and kena scolding for not taking care of my eyes (i wondered why it became my fault that it kept increasing?!!) and wondering if i might really go blind one day!! Now i know why. It is inevitable coz as long as we are growing, our eyeballs will keep growing too, so the spectacle lens will have to change too! Just like now, as we age, our eye muscles will lapse, so we will end up being lao hua!

From a visit to the optrometrist that's being recommended here, i understand that there are 4 methods to somehow 'control' myopia.
Besides Ortho-K, there's the Atropine eye-drop (feedback of not being very effective and also cornea infection), then there's special brand of specs lens (which controls 30%) and of course, the normal spectacles (most common).
So among the 4 choices, I chose Ortho-K coz i suppose it's the most effective (controls 70% according to the optrometrist and positive reviews from parents). Yes, and of couse it is also the most expensive solution - coz the lens supposedly can last 2-3 yrs before the need to change depending on individual).

The most challenging part for us is putting on the lens every night and taking them out in the mornings. We've just tried it once only anyway. Wasn't a very pleasant experience to begin with coz he kept blinking his eyes when i tried to put the lens in. Imagine putting eye drop can be a struggle with our kids, what more when you have to put the lens in. And coz it is the first time he felt something in his eye, he started crying, uncomfortable la, itching la, tearing .. big meltdown .. sigh... The next morning, taking out could be even more challenging .. Doesn't help that my son has small but thick eyelids like me.

As my son was having exams this week, i do not want to subject him to unnecessary anxiety. We intend to start the routine next week to get him used to it and right through the June hols when we are more free to visit the optometrist for review. Have to tell him no choice, he has to co-operate and make this work coz we have already spent so much and decided upon this together. You need to be very clear what's your ultimate objective. For me, it is to delay/avoid letting my son wear spectacles altogether esp when he's still so young. He has many years of schooling ahead. I want to start him young since his degree is still low, crossing my fingers it will reduce, if not maintain, as long as possible.

IMHO, Ortho K will be suitable for older kids for maturity in handling the routine. However, if you start them young when their degrees are low, i believe it is more effective to control their myopia rather than to face the stress of increasing degrees every year. The parents are right to say that in urban and developed Singapore, extremely rare to prevent myopia coz which sch going kid is not subject to near work like reading or computer work on a daily basis?? If not now, maybe later. The challenge is, if they are already myopic, is to control their myopia degree up to the age of 18-21 perhaps when they can choose other options like contact lens or lazik. By then, let's hope there is really a convenient cure

[beeb]

Thanks Mum2One for your most sincere sharing. My concern with Ortho-K lenses include the one u are facing with your child, the difficulty of using and maintaining of the lenses... what if the child feels and starts rubbing his eyes in his sleep? Read about the risks of infection and cut/abrasion to the cornea by the hard Ortho-K lenses, thus is hesitant to put son on it...


I fully acknowledge the difficulties/demands urban kids r facing, leading to the increase in myopia. My priority now is to help my son control the progression to the minimal till he reaches his teens, when his myopic reading stabilizes.

Inquired with an eye clinic in Mt Alvernia Hospital tt runs a children myopia control program with the eye drop thing. According to the clinic optometrist, the 100+ kids they have seen over the past few years had achieved remarkable results. Most of the kids had ZERO increase in their myopic power after the 1st year and only a mere increase of 25-50 degree after the 2nd year in the program! Made an appointment with the clinic 1st week of Jun. Shall see how things go as hubby and I continue to press on in prayer for help from above....

Appreciate if you could continue to update on development with your child on the Ortho-K lenses. :thankyou:

[usaik]

beeb:

Thanks Mum2One for your most sincere sharing. My concern with Ortho-K lenses include the one u are facing with your child, the difficulty of using and maintaining of the lenses... what if the child feels and starts rubbing his eyes in his sleep? Read about the risks of infection and cut/abrasion to the cornea by the hard Ortho-K lenses, thus is hesitant to put son on it...


I fully acknowledge the difficulties/demands urban kids r facing, leading to the increase in myopia. My priority now is to help my son control the progression to the minimal till he reaches his teens, when his myopic reading stabilizes.

Inquired with an eye clinic in Mt Alvernia Hospital tt runs a children myopia control program with the eye drop thing. According to the clinic optometrist, the 100+ kids they have seen over the past few years had achieved remarkable results. Most of the kids had ZERO increase in their myopic power after the 1st year and only a mere increase of 25-50 degree after the 2nd year in the program! Made an appointment with the clinic 1st week of Jun. Shall see how things go as hubby and I continue to press on in prayer for help from above....

Appreciate if you could continue to update on development with your child on the Ortho-K lenses. :thankyou:

Hi beeb, my ds is also in the Myopia Control program. We have exactly same concern as you with regards to Ortho K option; our concern was made worst as ds also have very sensitive eyes. He constantly has scratches all over his eyes due to intense scratching. The concern was also confirmed by the optometrist when we went down to the a ortho K shop mid last year. As the optometrist also worked in National eye centre, he recommended us the Atropine option. We didn't take up the option immediately as it was too new to us. After taking some time to read up, instead of going to National eye centre, we went to dh's eye dr in Mt Alvernia.

Ds just started the program this year, as this is a long term programme so we are still not sure how things will go yet. But one thing for sure, his eye sensitivity is also being treated at the same time. So no more intense scratching and hence no more scratch marks over his eyes.