All About Kids' Eye-sight
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I wonder if there’s anyway to improve their eyesight before it starts to get worse as my girl is slight shortsighted and she’s only 4.
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sall:
The doctor did write a prescription stating her degree. However because her current specs degree is correct and it is already a progressive lens, the doctor agreed that clip ons were sufficient. If however her degree changes by the next review in Sept (even with the atropine drops), we will have to change specs. He didn't say what the chances of the degree changing but I have read through the posts here that it may change despite atropine. Just that it won't go up as much.Just curious to know whether the doctor advised the degree for the specs. This is what my dd's doctor did. He wrote down the degree and I just passed them to the optican. So if the atropine drops are effective, then there shouldn't be a need to change specs, right? :?
Reading these posts reminds me of the time when dd first started on atropine. I was also very nervous, anxious, worried, desperate... But I think this is the best option to control the kids' myopia.
This is the 2nd week dd is on atropine. She has one drop in each eye every night. Doctor says will continue with 9 months. Don't know what will happen after that although he did say that will not go beyond 2 years. Doctor is from kkh. We did not go SNEC.
Atropine is my last resort. I had actually invested in a pair of ortho-K lens early last year when dd's degree was less than 400. However she was only 4 then and refused and still refuses to wear the lens cos v uncomfy. My $2k + down the drain. -
Fur-ma:
The worrying factor is children grow very fast until about puberty. If the drops are discontinued, the degree may shoot up even faster. I also spent lots of money before this last resort. All kinds of eye tonic, massage...
The doctor did write a prescription stating her degree. However because her current specs degree is correct and it is already a progressive lens, the doctor agreed that clip ons were sufficient. If however her degree changes by the next review in Sept (even with the atropine drops), we will have to change specs. He didn't say what the chances of the degree changing but I have read through the posts here that it may change despite atropine. Just that it won't go up as much.
This is the 2nd week dd is on atropine. She has one drop in each eye every night. Doctor says will continue with 9 months. Don't know what will happen after that although he did say that will not go beyond 2 years. Doctor is from kkh. We did not go SNEC.
Atropine is my last resort. I had actually invested in a pair of ortho-K lens early last year when dd's degree was less than 400. However she was only 4 then and refused and still refuses to wear the lens cos v uncomfy. My $2k + down the drain. -
Mavis:
I wonder if there's anyway to improve their eyesight before it starts to get worse as my girl is slight shortsighted and she's only 4.
It'll be good to bring your girl to an eye specialist who also handles childhood myopia. Get advice from him. When my girl was also diagnosed with myopia at 4 yrs old, the inexperienced doctor (GP) actually told me to let it be, too young to do anything about it, and the degree shot up so much within 6 mths. The degree continued shooting up, about 150 a year.Nothing helped, we stopped her from using computers, do everything we could think of.... -
hi sall, u said that ur child has myopia about 4 yo but u only started with atropine when she was 8+. How was the degree progressing during the 4 years? And thereafter when u start the treatment?
Atropine is also my last resort and have been hoping to start as late as possible. Then can reduce the chance of long-term side-effect. But the degree has been increasing so rapidly that we worry how much longer we can drag. -
Hi Barney8, at 4 yrs old, the degree was 75. Then started shooting up at an alarming rate. By 8 yrs old, about 500. During those years, I didn’t know about atropine. So I was frantically looking for eye tonics, and trying eye massage, bought a ridiculous machine that is supposed to relax the eyes, stop all computer usage etc. Luckily met a lady who told me about this atropine, then the degree dropped about 75 after application of atropine. Now the degree is still about the same, but the astig went up, but according to the optican, this cannot be prevented cos dd is growing, eyeballs are also growing.
If your child’s degree is up by 100-150 every year, then better check with the eye specialist whether to start on drops. -
Hi my kid cant cope with the glaring, suggest to use eye-drop alternate night? effective? is there any kid use alternate night? I know mostly use every night? My boy use hat and specs w prog+trans lens, still complaints bright and squint his eyes, anyone got better ideas for me, pls pls?
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KL28, sorry have no tips for you cos my dd started drops aboput the same time as your ds. Did you feedback to doctor about ur ds’s discomfort? Better check w doctor before you decide any action of reducing to alternate nights. Not sure about your doctor, but we go kkh and there is a helpline contact which I have been told to call if any problems with eye drops.
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KL28:
Hi my kid cant cope with the glaring, suggest to use eye-drop alternate night? effective? is there any kid use alternate night? I know mostly use every night? My boy use hat and specs w prog+trans lens, still complaints bright and squint his eyes, anyone got better ideas for me, pls pls?
Hi KL28,
My kids use atropine three times a week. Doc always asked us to schedule it such that on the eve of a PE lesson, do not administer. Since atropine is a controlled drug, you should consult your doc before changing the frequency. We will stop atropine prior to science practical test (scared can't see the fine lines on test tubes) and also before a day when we know the kid will be outdoor the whole day. The sun is very strong these days compared to when we first started. When I was a teen, I had some eyedrops administered to the eyes by the hospital doc for some eye ailments. I remembered as I walked home, I could not cross the traffic light as I was unable to see if the light was green or red. I wasn't wearing any shades. SO the experience haunted me and I always checked with my children if they r ok. They r coping well with the eyedrops. I forgot to stop atropine before NAPFA test. But my child had no complaints and did well in the test, which was on a very sunny day. The transition lens + hat should block out most of the glare. Maybe be a little less self conscious and see how it goes. As for the specs, opt for one that have wide coverage so more protection.
OH, the doc also advised if child is having flu, stop atropine. Anyone else had such advice? -
Fur-ma:
KL28, sorry have no tips for you cos my dd started drops aboput the same time as your ds. Did you feedback to doctor about ur ds's discomfort? Better check w doctor before you decide any action of reducing to alternate nights. Not sure about your doctor, but we go kkh and there is a helpline contact which I have been told to call if any problems with eye drops.
Dear Fur-ma, we have feedback to the clinic, the Optometrist, she said can reduce the drops to alternate night, since my boy cant cope with glaring. My son sees Dr in eagle-eye at Mt A, they have in-house Optometrist, we usually make specs from there. We can sms her whenever we have problem, but she is not a Dr!!!
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