farsighted but told to doesn't need glasses??

[cocobean04]

I took my daughter to her 4 year old check up back in March where she supposedly scored a 20/50 on the eye chart exam. She knew what all the pictures were and was doing good until she got to the middle rows. Then she couldn't tell us what they were. I took her today to a Pediatric Opthamologist and they said that she was farsighted. They told me that most children have some amount of farsightedness but that it corrects itself as they get older and focus more on certain things. They said that it was pretty normal for them to have 1.25 but that she had 2.50 in one eye and 3.00 in the other. He said he would prescribe glasses for her but that since her eyes weren't crossing or misaligned that she was okay. He said we should come back in 8-9 months to have them rechecked. I know she was having difficulty with the chart and when he put those glasses with the lenses you change out she could see the other lines. I just want to know if this is a common practice to wait and see if they get better or worse before giving her glasses. I would hate to think of her walking around with blurry vision that will be even worse in 8-9 months. I haven't ever really payed much attention to her eyes before I mean she sits close to the tv all the time but don't most kids. She isn't in school and doesn't know how to read so I can't really tell how bad it is for her. Does any of this sound right to you? Thanks

Coco's mom

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

KEY POINT:  The eye can correct for farsightedness (but not nearsightedness). Especially in a child your daughter's age the focus muscle is very strong and will correct the +2.50 to +3.00 diopter of hyperopia and she will see "normal". The problem with farsigntedness is that in some children when they focus to see clearly the eye starts to cross. that's why she needs to keep going back for rechecks.

JCH III MD

[cocobean04]

Thank you Doctor that explains alot for me! Thanks for your time!

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

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