Children's Eye Care: Choosing an Optometrist
Academics, sports, and outdoor games are an essential and enjoyable part of most children's lives. Any damage to visual skills means keeping them bereft of those experiences and enjoyment. Every child should have a precise distance and broad field vision as well as good depth perception.
He should exhibit effective eye-hand coordination to perform adequately in both sports and academics. When children develop eye health problems and issues associated with uncorrected vision conditions, they face many challenges in life. Poor vision can hamper their performances academically, athletically, and socially. They are not able to achieve their maximum potential due to weaker eyesight or vision.
Recent research demonstrates that the percentage of children developing vision problems is fast rising. If those issues are ignored, the consequences can be severe, and many children face the risk of losing their eyesight forever. That is why a comprehensive eye examination by children's optometrist is a must as early detection and treatment can help treat many vision problems among children.
Who Is A Children's Optometrist?
All optometrists get trained to detect eye disease, perform refraction, and examine binocular vision and convergence. The vision scientists are making many advances in optometric institutions. However, some of the optometrists specialize further, based on their interest and some may specialize in sports vision, some in geriatrics and some in contact lenses and more.
There are optometrists that train to deal with eye diseases and problems among children, and these are known as children's optometrists.
In case your child indicates vision, problems and has trouble reading, it is essential to take him to a children's optometrist who can carry out comprehensive testing for the child. There are some signs and symptoms that indicate that your child may have or is developing a vision problem.
Here are some indications:
- Frequent rubbing or blinking of eyes
- Avoiding reading and other activities
- Frequent headaches and short attention span
- Tilting the head to one side and covering one eye
- Difficulty remembering and seeing double
- Holding the reading materials too close to the face
The National Expert Panel mentions that children should be screened annually for disorders of the eyes that include significant refractive error, amblyopia, and any other risk factors. One must pay careful consideration when choosing an optometrist for the child.
Picking the Children's Optometrist
Making the right choices ensures getting the right results. Look for a facility and optometrist that caters to kids and teens and is one of the most reputed in your area. The team should show its commitment to paediatric eye care and offer unparalleled care. One can check with professional organizations and consult their family, friends, and co-workers about the leading optometrists in their area.
One can also ask pharmacists, primary care physician, and even a family doctor for some references. It would help if one calls the ophthalmology department at a local hospital and get information on specialty and experience of several children's optometrists. It would help if your insurance company covers a list of eye doctors and can recommend qualified eye doctors for your child.
The children's optometrist can help with the correction of vision problems among children with the help of eyeglasses or contact lenses. He may prescribe some eye exercises to enhance vision skills and correct many vision problems. Eye protection should be a significant concern to all parents as well as their children.
Parents, teachers, and the school can work together to improve vision among children and offer them the right support guidance whenever playing sports or studying. The children should be screened for any eye problems or division issues by a children's optometrist in primary health care settings.
About Alyssa Moylan
Alyssa Moylan is an ordinary woman from Australia, a writer by day and a reader by night. She writes on various topics like home improvement, business, lifestyle, health, travel and fashion.
She likes to think of ways on how to solve daily life problems of people. Follow her on Twitter to stay updated.
