Georgie Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I am nearsighted. It was first noticed when I was in 4th grade. My husband has perfect eyesight. Sometimes I think he must be related to a hawk. Our kids now have glasses for nearsightedness. Not as bad as mine. Our ped. eye doctor has them doing eye therapy and is very good about not changing their perscription at every visit. I like that she is focused on slowing the progression. I recently came across this site: http://www.i-see.org/library.html I plan on asking the kid's eye doctor some questions during the next visit, but I was wondering if anyone else questioned if the current thinking of eye doctors was correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 (edited) We haven't found any link at all related to wearing glasses in our case. The first symptom my eldest had that she was becoming myopic was headaches. She only needed a prescription of 25, but it stopped her headaches. She lost those and adapted until her eyes got worse and the headaches started again. She no longer gets headaches as easily, so we don't rush to change her prescription glasses right away anymore, but she's following her dad's footsteps. I have insisted, though, that she stop wearing her glasss to read. My 10 yo has always been myopic, but refuses to wear glasses, so she doesn't. She wore them for 6 hours a day when younger due to astygmatism to prevent lazy eyes, etc, but hasn't worn them in years. However, the eye doctor made the distance weaker than she needed so her eyes would work and continue to develop. There is a point where there is no longer any point in doing that. My 8 yo is far sighted, was born that way, and glasses are a boon to him. There are many theories about eyesight and what to do about it, but in our case, glasses and not having glasses really haven't made the problems better or worse, based on my dd's cases. As for ds, glasses opened up a whole new world to him, and since we've been patching, one eye sees much better--glasses & treatment have been fabulous for him. By better, I mean 4 lines better on his weak eye test in 2 months! We're thrilled! I'd keep doing the visual strengthening exercises in case they help, but many people had trouble with vision before eyeglasses, including myopia. Edited January 3, 2009 by Karin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgie Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 Thank you for your insight. We plan on continuing the therapy, but the reason I am questioning is because my son is one of the rare cases where he needs glasses to see things far away, but the glasses cause his eyes to push outward. (to each side rather than straight ahead.) In the case of most nearsighted people the glasses cause their eyes to pull in or straighten forward. For him it pushes his eyes outward. Not enough for us to see yet, but enough for her to notice each visit. The eye doctor said that no one has found the reason this occurs in some cases and they haven't found a cure. The more his prescription increases the worse his eyes will get. For now he can see without glasses except for things farther away. I am wondering if we continue the therapy without glasses if his eyesight will improve rather than making the other problem worse. I do plan on asking the eye doctor when we see her, but I am also trying to research this a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Thank you for your insight. We plan on continuing the therapy, but the reason I am questioning is because my son is one of the rare cases where he needs glasses to see things far away, but the glasses cause his eyes to push outward. (to each side rather than straight ahead.) In the case of most nearsighted people the glasses cause their eyes to pull in or straighten forward. For him it pushes his eyes outward. Not enough for us to see yet, but enough for her to notice each visit. The eye doctor said that no one has found the reason this occurs in some cases and they haven't found a cure. The more his prescription increases the worse his eyes will get. For now he can see without glasses except for things farther away. I am wondering if we continue the therapy without glasses if his eyesight will improve rather than making the other problem worse. I do plan on asking the eye doctor when we see her, but I am also trying to research this a bit. Okay, you didn't mention that in your first post, and I've never heard of this before, which must be because it's so rare. I think eye exercises are even more important in that case, if that pull is going to cause damage. I would think that wearing glasses as little as possible would also help. Is that correct? He keeps them off for all reading and close work, right? That's what my dh does, who doesn't have that problem but is near sighted. Can he manage most things at home without them? How about when he plays outdoors or does activities? You can swim on a team without great vision if you can see the lines at the bottom of the pool and make out the flags when you're doing the backstroke. I'm guessing he needs glasses to watch a movie and will need them to drive. How about ball sports? How strong is is prescription now? I know that there are near sighted dancers who learn to dance without glasses, but I'm not sure how that would work with most sports. I'm partly posting to bump this in case someone else comes along who knows about this condition you mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgie Posted January 4, 2009 Author Share Posted January 4, 2009 Previously he was wearing his glasses all the time as they were bifocals. He used the bottom part for things near and the top part for far away. Right now he is not wearing any glasses as his pair broke which is what caused this visit to the eye doctor. This was the first time his doctor mentioned anything. His glasses won't be ready until next week. I think until I find out more information I am going to try what you suggested for both my children. Only have the glasses worn for when they actually need to see things far way along with the eye therapy. He has not complained of headaches without his glasses (it has been two weeks) and mostly comments about not being able to see the printing on signs that are in the distance. I appreciate your suggestions. Thank you.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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