Importance of Kids’ Eye Test before School Starts

Poor vision or weaker eyesight can have serious impact on the education of children. Due to lack of visibility, students will find distant objects quite blurred or unclear, thus preventing them from learning. This physical barrier will lead them to obtain poor marks in the examination. Moreover, their socialization with friends or participation at sports will be hampered badly. If parents are serious about their children’s bright future and want to see them do well in examination, they should get eyes of their infants tested before school starts. 

How to know your kid is having eye problem?

How will you know that your children are suffering from vision problem? To know this answer, you will have to keep an eye on any noticeable change in their physical appearance and behaviour. Children suffering from eye problems will:-

·         Often complain about headaches.

·         Find reading or viewing distant objects, i.e. highway signs, difficult, forcing kids to sit very close to television/computer or holding books very close to their eyes. It is the symptom of nearsightedness, also known as short-sightedness and myopia.

·         Have the tendency to rub eyes frequently and will complain about the feeling of itching or burning.

·         Face the trouble of both their eyes not working together comfortably as a team. Closing one eye while reading or doing any work from a very close range indicates the symptom of convergence insufficiency problem.

·         Be unable to use fingers to track words, lines or even sentences of text while reading.

·         Start seeing double images of each object. It is called diplopia, but popularly known as double vision.

·         Suffer from allergy that will cause them to have red, itchy and watery eyes.

·         Will lose their attention to their work very quickly.

·         Blink repeatedly.

If you see any of the aforementioned symptoms in your child, assume that he or she is suffering from eye problems. Before it is getting worse, get your kids to an eye specialist and get an eye test of your child before school starts.

When is the right time for kids to have their eyes examined?

Life without a good eye vision is full of darkness. So, in order to enjoy the beauty of this earth, it is important to have regular check-up of our eyes. A slightest negligence can become the cause of the loss of vision for life. Now, the question is “When an infant should have his or her first eye test? To answer the question, it is necessary to state the guidelines given by the American Optometric Association (AOA). These guidelines can be divided into four phases:

     i.        The first eye test should be scheduled at the age of 6 months

    ii.        Then the pre-schooler will have his second eye test at the age of 3

  iii.        The third eye test should be done at the age of 5 or 6 before entering the kindergarten or first grade.

  iv.        After that, school-going children have been advised to follow-up eye tests after every two years if there is no change in vision detected. In case of paediatric risk factors, such as poor eyesight requiring glasses, contact lenses, treatment or vision therapy, children are recommended to test their eyes annually or according to their eye doctor’s recommendations.

What are the benefits of doing early eye test?

The followings advantages a child and his or her parents can enjoy having an early eye test:

a.   Early eye test will help diagnose probable threats if there is any. As a result, precautionary steps can be taken before turning it into a serious matter, protecting our eyes from losing vision for life.

b.   One of the most common eye diseases in children is lazy eye. Kids who endure this condition have one eye with weaker vision than other. If it can be diagnosed at an early age, treatment tends to be more effective. This treatment may require an eye patch, eye drops, vision exercises, eyeglasses or surgery.

c.   Another example is crossed eyes, which children suffer because of having poor eye muscle control. If the problem is caught early enough and treated appropriately, it can be fixed. Treatment requires special eye drops, eye patches, appropriate eyewear, vision therapy and surgery in extreme cases.

What preventive measures should be taken to protect eyes from being damaged?

There is an adage- “Prevention is better than cure”. Keeping in line with this proverb, it can be said that taking precautionary steps in order to prevent all sorts of eye damage is better than to deal with once affected. It is advisable to follow the measures given below:

o   In order to protect eyes from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays, it is necessary to wear sunglasses whenever you go outside during daytime. The chances of happening cataracts, pinguecula and other eye problems may decrease.

o   It has been shown in several studies that healthy and balanced diet reduces the risk of eye diseases. Foods including abundant number of fruits and colourful or dark green vegetables rich in antioxidants can decrease the chance of happening cataracts. Fish rich in omega-3 fatty acid may reduce your risk of macular degeneration. To keep your eyes healthy, it is advised to take vitamins which are good for eyes.

o   If parents notice any behavioural or physical change of characters in their children, or if they get complain from them, then they take your children to an eye specialist without any delay. Immediate steps can help prevent anything bad from causing harm to the eyes of your child.

Eye is a very important part of human body. Without a good eyesight, human life submerges in darkness. So, it is a duty for every parent to get their kids’ eye test before school begins.