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Eye Care Archive (Expert Forum)
Child diagnosed with myopia but has confusing symptoms
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Child diagnosed with myopia but has confusing symptoms
by Elena123, Feb 22, 2006 12:00AM
My son, who was born at 42 weeks gestation and weighed almost 10 lb began to squint a lot at 18 months, shortly after having Whooping Cough. Two opthalmologists said he was -4 in both eyes and had astigmatism. We have no family history (I am the only one in glasses at -1.25 in both eyes) of such difficulties. We then saw a behavioral optometrist, who recommended accommodation exercises and no glasses. Now, my son is 3 1/2 and in preschool. He squints a lot at the TV, but sometimes also at people who are new to him or to something close to him. He can, however, watch TV from 10 feet (while squinting) and see details, like a hat on one of four characters on teh screen. He sees a tiny airplane in the sky. He can recognize his grandparents' van in the parking lot from a distance. He can tell us details about things he sees through the car window at a distance. He never crashes into anything while running around, even in unfamiliar territory. We just went to another opthalmologist, who was very attentive and drew us diagrams of the eye, etc. He diagnosed -5.5 in both eyes and astigmatism. We now have glasses. In the glasses, my son said that things look "bigger" but still squints at the TV with them on. He asks to take them off after a while, although he will put them on if we remind him. We are very confused. Everyone we know with a -5 tell us that they only see blobs of color, could not watch TV from 10 feet even with squinting, and can't walk around without their glasses. Also, they say that things should look smaller and not bigger in glasses. Please help!
Doctor's Answer
by Forum-OD-MP, Feb 22, 2006 12:00AM
the myopia is not related to the whooping cough.
okay the big question here is...why does he seem to not need or want his glasses as much as the "average" -5.00 myope? why can he adjust and not need them too much?
and the answer is...i dont know. in theory if -5.00 is close, he should be in the "blobs of color" category and pretty much be unable to watch tv from a distance. but i wouldnt consider any of this too serious. a 3 1/2 year old in a -5 is somewhat disconcerting, but IMO not too alarmin. whether he wears his glasses or not or WANTS to wear his glasses at this age is probably not a super important matter. in theory it would be better for his retinal development if he wore them.
my estimation is this: most 3 year olds dont have a need for acuity. he doesnt have a developed retina anyway, and doesnt ever have the need to see fine details. seeing a plane in the sky doesnt count...thats peripheral vision. i'm talking about reading street signs or seeing fine detail like writing at great distances. he likely doesnt EVER do that. and he sees fine details that are up close very well both with and w/o the glasses on.
dont worry too much about what he sees or what he should see with or w/o the glasses. it really doesnt matter than much. he does probably need to wear them to make sure he has a clear image so his retinas can continue to develop.
okay the big question here is...why does he seem to not need or want his glasses as much as the "average" -5.00 myope? why can he adjust and not need them too much?
and the answer is...i dont know. in theory if -5.00 is close, he should be in the "blobs of color" category and pretty much be unable to watch tv from a distance. but i wouldnt consider any of this too serious. a 3 1/2 year old in a -5 is somewhat disconcerting, but IMO not too alarmin. whether he wears his glasses or not or WANTS to wear his glasses at this age is probably not a super important matter. in theory it would be better for his retinal development if he wore them.
my estimation is this: most 3 year olds dont have a need for acuity. he doesnt have a developed retina anyway, and doesnt ever have the need to see fine details. seeing a plane in the sky doesnt count...thats peripheral vision. i'm talking about reading street signs or seeing fine detail like writing at great distances. he likely doesnt EVER do that. and he sees fine details that are up close very well both with and w/o the glasses on.
dont worry too much about what he sees or what he should see with or w/o the glasses. it really doesnt matter than much. he does probably need to wear them to make sure he has a clear image so his retinas can continue to develop.
Member Comments
by Lu An, Mar 07, 2006 12:00AM
The reason for his squinting is because it gives him a pinhole effect and improves his vision. This is most common in children with astigmatism or high refractive errors. -5.5 is a high refractive error. Why does he not want to wear the glasses? Most childred do not want to wear glasses. Going from no correction to full correction may be too much for him to adjust to all at once. You might discuss with the doctor cutting the prescription in half for a little while so he can adjust. But I would really push wearing correction because when he starts school he will not be able to see the chalk board or overhead projector or anything at a distance without some correction. It will greatly hamper his learning. Try a reward system for wearing the glasses. He needs to wear them consistantly.
