Main Page | Report this Page
 
   
Science Forum Index  »  Medicine - Vision Forum  »  vision check in 5 year old (long)
Page 1 of 1    
Author Message
Guest
Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 10:25 am
I took my 5 yo DD to a pediatric ophthalmologist. He dilated her eyes
and checked and came up with a prescription, let's say "x" which was
rather high (worse) reading. Since we don't have anyone in family that
had glasses DH wanted a second opinion so I took her to an optometrist
today. She was very thorough and fully engaged DD and tested for a
while without dilating and came up with a prescription that pretty
much identical to "x". Then she said this reading is a bit on the
higher side and also since I never noted any problems with DD's vision
at home, she wanted to dilate and check again. She used a stronger
solution to dilate her pupils and checked again after 45 minutes. This
new reading "y" turned out to be negligible enough that she doesn't
need glasses.

But, DD also has astigmatism. So she gave me 3 choices:

1. The biggest problem with DD is that she's unable to relax her eye
muscles and she's over focusing. So she said we can use a solution to
dilate her pupils that lets her relax her eye muscles. We can use it a
few times a week after school. During that time she has to have
bifocals with reading glasses in the bottom half in case she wants to
read etc.

2. Get prescription glasses that address astigmatism and try to get
her to relax her eye without dilating or anything.

3. Get a 3rd opinion if that makes me more comfortable.

I felt that the optometrist did a more thorough job than the Ped
Ophthalmologist but I don't know who knows better. Also, does anyone
know if there any eye-muscle-relaxation-exercises that I can have my 5
yo do every day?

Any comments are appreciated. Thanks.
Guest
Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 10:52 am
Dear Janes,

You will get a lot of commentary on what your child should be doing --
most
of it explosive.

If you wish the second-opinion on helping your child avoid glasses
you might click here and join the discussion:


http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/i-see/

Or here for a general review:

www.i-see.org






On Apr 17, 4:25 pm, janes...@gmail.com wrote:
Quote:
I took my 5 yo DD to a pediatric ophthalmologist. He dilated her eyes
and checked and came up with a prescription, let's say "x" which was
rather high (worse) reading. Since we don't have anyone in family that
had glasses DH wanted a second opinion so I took her to an optometrist
today. She was very thorough and fully engaged DD and tested for a
while without dilating and came up with a prescription that pretty
much identical to "x". Then she said this reading is a bit on the
higher side and also since I never noted any problems with DD's vision
at home, she wanted to dilate and check again. She used a stronger
solution to dilate her pupils and checked again after 45 minutes. This
new reading "y" turned out to be negligible enough that she doesn't
need glasses.

But, DD also has astigmatism. So she gave me 3 choices:

1. The biggest problem with DD is that she's unable to relax her eye
muscles and she's over focusing. So she said we can use a solution to
dilate her pupils that lets her relax her eye muscles. We can use it a
few times a week after school. During that time she has to have
bifocals with reading glasses in the bottom half in case she wants to
read etc.

2. Get prescription glasses that address astigmatism and try to get
her to relax her eye without dilating or anything.

3. Get a 3rd opinion if that makes me more comfortable.

I felt that the optometrist did a more thorough job than the Ped
Ophthalmologist but I don't know who knows better. Also, does anyone
know if there any eye-muscle-relaxation-exercises that I can have my 5
yo do every day?

Any comments are appreciated. Thanks.
Neil Brooks
Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 11:07 am
Guest
On Apr 17, 1:25 pm, janes...@gmail.com wrote:
Quote:
I took my 5 yo DD to a pediatric ophthalmologist. He dilated her eyes
and checked and came up with a prescription, let's say "x" which was
rather high (worse) reading. Since we don't have anyone in family that
had glasses DH wanted a second opinion so I took her to an optometrist
today. She was very thorough and fully engaged DD and tested for a
while without dilating and came up with a prescription that pretty
much identical to "x". Then she said this reading is a bit on the
higher side and also since I never noted any problems with DD's vision
at home, she wanted to dilate and check again. She used a stronger
solution to dilate her pupils and checked again after 45 minutes. This
new reading "y" turned out to be negligible enough that she doesn't
need glasses.

But, DD also has astigmatism. So she gave me 3 choices:

1. The biggest problem with DD is that she's unable to relax her eye
muscles and she's over focusing. So she said we can use a solution to
dilate her pupils that lets her relax her eye muscles. We can use it a
few times a week after school. During that time she has to have
bifocals with reading glasses in the bottom half in case she wants to
read etc.

2. Get prescription glasses that address astigmatism and try to get
her to relax her eye without dilating or anything.

3. Get a 3rd opinion if that makes me more comfortable.

I felt that the optometrist did a more thorough job than the Ped
Ophthalmologist but I don't know who knows better. Also, does anyone
know if there any eye-muscle-relaxation-exercises that I can have my 5
yo do every day?

Any comments are appreciated. Thanks.

1) Can you post all the various prescriptions -- with and without
cycloplegia (dilation)?

2) It might help to know if DD has had any history of binocular
function disorders (strabismus) or surgeries, and the specifics on
that, too -- perhaps including her alignment pre- and post-
operatively, if applicable.

3) Also, there's nothing to be gained ... and much to be lost ... in
paying any attention to Otis Brown.

I'm not an eye doctor, but a very interested patient.
Mike Tyner
Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 4:06 pm
Guest
<janesire@gmail.com> wrote

Quote:
new reading "y" turned out to be negligible enough that she doesn't
need glasses.

I think that's the heart of your answer.

Snellen values might be more useful in defining how significant her
astigmatism is, but in some cases, even large amounts have little effect on
development, and may not need correction til a later age.

Quote:
1. The biggest problem with DD is that she's unable to relax her eye
muscles and she's over focusing.

Understand that's largely a testing artifact, or a subconscious "tension"
that often goes away in the open, and _always_ goes away with age.

Quote:
2. Get prescription glasses that address astigmatism and try to get
her to relax her eye without dilating or anything.

First determine whether she has problems seeing. If they measured 20/30 or
better, there is no hurry.

Quote:
I felt that the optometrist did a more thorough job than the Ped
Ophthalmologist but I don't know who knows better.

The one who does NOT force you down one path or another.

Quote:
Also, does anyone
know if there any eye-muscle-relaxation-exercises that
I can have my 5 yo do every day?

If it isn't confirmed by behavioral vision difficulty (snellen acuity) then
forget it. It's largely a testing artifact. Even outside the examination
room, excess accommodation by itself does no harm.

Now a word of warning - this particular swimming pool (sci.med.vision)
contains turds. Don't take any advice from 80-year-old literature or
80-year-old engineers.

-MT, OD
Scott Seidman
Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 5:01 pm
Guest
janesire@gmail.com wrote in news:7bb4b8f0-10f8-4fcb-87bd-
43975d28ab82@x41g2000hsb.googlegroups.com:

Quote:

Any comments are appreciated. Thanks.


Was there any complaint that brought you to a pediatric
ophthalmologist in the first place??


--
Scott
Reverse name to reply
Guest
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 4:30 am
On Apr 17, 5:01 pm, Scott Seidman <namdiestt...@mindspring.com> wrote:
Quote:
janes...@gmail.com wrote in news:7bb4b8f0-10f8-4fcb-87bd-
43975d28a...@x41g2000hsb.googlegroups.com:



Any comments are appreciated. Thanks.

Was there any complaint that brought you to a pediatric
ophthalmologist in the first place??

--
Scott
Reverse name to reply

She had a vision/hearing test at her preschool (I don't know how they
tested but they didn't dilate her pupils). They said I have to get her
checked by ophthalmologist. That's why we went.
Guest
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 4:34 am
On Apr 17, 4:07 pm, Neil Brooks <neil0...@yahoo.com> wrote:
Quote:
On Apr 17, 1:25 pm, janes...@gmail.com wrote:



I took my 5 yo DD to a pediatric ophthalmologist. He dilated her eyes
and checked and came up with a prescription, let's say "x" which was
rather high (worse) reading. Since we don't have anyone in family that
had glasses DH wanted a second opinion so I took her to an optometrist
today. She was very thorough and fully engaged DD and tested for a
while without dilating and came up with a prescription that pretty
much identical to "x". Then she said this reading is a bit on the
higher side and also since I never noted any problems with DD's vision
at home, she wanted to dilate and check again. She used a stronger
solution to dilate her pupils and checked again after 45 minutes. This
new reading "y" turned out to be negligible enough that she doesn't
need glasses.

But, DD also has astigmatism. So she gave me 3 choices:

1. The biggest problem with DD is that she's unable to relax her eye
muscles and she's over focusing. So she said we can use a solution to
dilate her pupils that lets her relax her eye muscles. We can use it a
few times a week after school. During that time she has to have
bifocals with reading glasses in the bottom half in case she wants to
read etc.

2. Get prescription glasses that address astigmatism and try to get
her to relax her eye without dilating or anything.

3. Get a 3rd opinion if that makes me more comfortable.

I felt that the optometrist did a more thorough job than the Ped
Ophthalmologist but I don't know who knows better. Also, does anyone
know if there any eye-muscle-relaxation-exercises that I can have my 5
yo do every day?

Any comments are appreciated. Thanks.

1) Can you post all the various prescriptions -- with and without
cycloplegia (dilation)?

First (x) from the Opthalmologist with dilation and optometrist
without dilation:

Right: sphere -3.00 Cyl: +1.25 Axis 123
Left: sphere -3.25 Cyl: +1.25 Axis 080

Second (y) at optometrist with dilation:

Right: sphere -0.25 Cyl: -0.75 Axis 021
Left: sphere 0 Cyl: -1.50 Axis 175


Quote:

2) It might help to know if DD has had any history of binocular
function disorders (strabismus) or surgeries, and the specifics on
that, too -- perhaps including her alignment pre- and post-
operatively, if applicable.

None of the above.

Quote:

3) Also, there's nothing to be gained ... and much to be lost ... in
paying any attention to Otis Brown.

I'm not an eye doctor, but a very interested patient.
Zetsu
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:03 am
Guest
On 18 Apr, 15:34, janes...@gmail.com wrote:
Quote:
On Apr 17, 4:07 pm, Neil Brooks <neil0...@yahoo.com> wrote:



On Apr 17, 1:25 pm, janes...@gmail.com wrote:

I took my 5 yo DD to a pediatric ophthalmologist. He dilated her eyes
and checked and came up with a prescription, let's say "x" which was
rather high (worse) reading. Since we don't have anyone in family that
had glasses DH wanted a second opinion so I took her to an optometrist
today. She was very thorough and fully engaged DD and tested for a
while without dilating and came up with a prescription that pretty
much identical to "x". Then she said this reading is a bit on the
higher side and also since I never noted any problems with DD's vision
at home, she wanted to dilate and check again. She used a stronger
solution to dilate her pupils and checked again after 45 minutes. This
new reading "y" turned out to be negligible enough that she doesn't
need glasses.

But, DD also has astigmatism. So she gave me 3 choices:

1. The biggest problem with DD is that she's unable to relax her eye
muscles and she's over focusing. So she said we can use a solution to
dilate her pupils that lets her relax her eye muscles. We can use it a
few times a week after school. During that time she has to have
bifocals with reading glasses in the bottom half in case she wants to
read etc.

2. Get prescription glasses that address astigmatism and try to get
her to relax her eye without dilating or anything.

3. Get a 3rd opinion if that makes me more comfortable.

I felt that the optometrist did a more thorough job than the Ped
Ophthalmologist but I don't know who knows better. Also, does anyone
know if there any eye-muscle-relaxation-exercises that I can have my 5
yo do every day?

Any comments are appreciated. Thanks.

1) Can you post all the various prescriptions -- with and without
cycloplegia (dilation)?

First (x) from the Opthalmologist with dilation and optometrist
without dilation:

Right: sphere -3.00 Cyl: +1.25 Axis 123
Left: sphere -3.25 Cyl: +1.25 Axis 080

Second (y) at optometrist with dilation:

Right: sphere -0.25 Cyl: -0.75 Axis 021
Left: sphere 0 Cyl: -1.50 Axis 175



2) It might help to know if DD has had any history of binocular
function disorders (strabismus) or surgeries, and the specifics on
that, too -- perhaps including her alignment pre- and post-
operatively, if applicable.

None of the above.



3) Also, there's nothing to be gained ... and much to be lost ... in
paying any attention to Otis Brown.

I'm not an eye doctor, but a very interested patient.

Wow, you mean there's a whole 3.25 diopters of tonic accomodation in
the left eye? I am quite surprised!
Neil Brooks
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 10:35 am
Guest
On Apr 18, 11:03 am, Zetsu <absolutelyinvinci...@hotmail.com> wrote:
Quote:
On 18 Apr, 15:34, janes...@gmail.com wrote:



On Apr 17, 4:07 pm, Neil Brooks <neil0...@yahoo.com> wrote:

On Apr 17, 1:25 pm, janes...@gmail.com wrote:

I took my 5 yo DD to a pediatric ophthalmologist. He dilated her eyes
and checked and came up with a prescription, let's say "x" which was
rather high (worse) reading. Since we don't have anyone in family that
had glasses DH wanted a second opinion so I took her to an optometrist
today. She was very thorough and fully engaged DD and tested for a
while without dilating and came up with a prescription that pretty
much identical to "x". Then she said this reading is a bit on the
higher side and also since I never noted any problems with DD's vision
at home, she wanted to dilate and check again. She used a stronger
solution to dilate her pupils and checked again after 45 minutes. This
new reading "y" turned out to be negligible enough that she doesn't
need glasses.

But, DD also has astigmatism. So she gave me 3 choices:

1. The biggest problem with DD is that she's unable to relax her eye
muscles and she's over focusing. So she said we can use a solution to
dilate her pupils that lets her relax her eye muscles. We can use it a
few times a week after school. During that time she has to have
bifocals with reading glasses in the bottom half in case she wants to
read etc.

2. Get prescription glasses that address astigmatism and try to get
her to relax her eye without dilating or anything.

3. Get a 3rd opinion if that makes me more comfortable.

I felt that the optometrist did a more thorough job than the Ped
Ophthalmologist but I don't know who knows better. Also, does anyone
know if there any eye-muscle-relaxation-exercises that I can have my 5
yo do every day?

Any comments are appreciated. Thanks.

1) Can you post all the various prescriptions -- with and without
cycloplegia (dilation)?

First (x) from the Opthalmologist with dilation and optometrist
without dilation:

Right: sphere -3.00 Cyl: +1.25 Axis 123
Left: sphere -3.25 Cyl: +1.25 Axis 080

Second (y) at optometrist with dilation:

Right: sphere -0.25 Cyl: -0.75 Axis 021
Left: sphere 0 Cyl: -1.50 Axis 175

2) It might help to know if DD has had any history of binocular
function disorders (strabismus) or surgeries, and the specifics on
that, too -- perhaps including her alignment pre- and post-
operatively, if applicable.

None of the above.

3) Also, there's nothing to be gained ... and much to be lost ... in
paying any attention to Otis Brown.

I'm not an eye doctor, but a very interested patient.

Wow, you mean there's a whole 3.25 diopters of tonic accomodation in
the left eye? I am quite surprised!

I'm not surprised.

I'm not at ALL surprised. This is yet ANOTHER reason why Mike Tyner
KNOWS that you don't understand how LITTLE YOU know.
Neil Brooks
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 10:50 am
Guest
On Apr 18, 7:34 am, janes...@gmail.com wrote:

Quote:
First (x) from the Opthalmologist with dilation and optometrist
without dilation:

Right: sphere -3.00 Cyl: +1.25 Axis 123
Left: sphere -3.25 Cyl: +1.25 Axis 080

Second (y) at optometrist with dilation:

Right: sphere -0.25 Cyl: -0.75 Axis 021
Left: sphere 0 Cyl: -1.50 Axis 175

The difference between the two prescriptions is largely accounted for
"convention" in writing prescriptions. One is written in "minus
cylinder." The other, in "plus cylinder."

The latter prescription -- written in the same 'convention' as the
former -- works out to:

RE: -1.00 +.75 x111
LE: -1.50 +1.50 x85

The difference, then, is far less than it first appears. She's
slightly myopic with a bit of astigmatism.

Have they actually /diagnosed/ your DD for "accommodative excess??"
It is an actual clinical condition* that has diagnostic criteria and
for which various treatments DO exist.

It's also a good idea to have a pediatric /strabismus/ ophthalmologist
"intervene" while your DD is young. There is a physiologic link
between accommodation (the eye focusing) and convergence (the eye
turning inward to view near objects). If she truly has accommodative
issues, then a strabismus ophthalmologist (or binocular function
optometrist) is the one to monitor and advise.

The eye drops you referred to are virtually always preserved with a
chemical agent that's /really/ bad for the eyes ... over time. If
this were a temporary use thing, then I might consider it.

If it were "during school" as in ... years ... I would strongly
recommend avoiding it, in lieu of other treatments (glasses and/or
vision therapy ARE options).

Reading glasses or bifocals ARE a treatment for accommodative excess,
but I'd be sure that a 'thorough' dilation (perhaps using cyclogyl, or
stronger agent) is/was performed to be sure.

Young accommodative mechanisms are strong. They need to know exactly
how much accommodative spasm this young one might be hiding before
prescribing.

A really competent strabismus doc will be able to balance all the
factors and prescribe the right glasses, if necessary.

Neil

*http://www.aoa.org/documents/CPG-18.pdf
Zetsu
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 11:04 am
Guest
On 18 Apr, 21:35, Neil Brooks <neil0...@yahoo.com> wrote:
Quote:
On Apr 18, 11:03 am, Zetsu <absolutelyinvinci...@hotmail.com> wrote:



On 18 Apr, 15:34, janes...@gmail.com wrote:

On Apr 17, 4:07 pm, Neil Brooks <neil0...@yahoo.com> wrote:

On Apr 17, 1:25 pm, janes...@gmail.com wrote:

I took my 5 yo DD to a pediatric ophthalmologist. He dilated her eyes
and checked and came up with a prescription, let's say "x" which was
rather high (worse) reading. Since we don't have anyone in family that
had glasses DH wanted a second opinion so I took her to an optometrist
today. She was very thorough and fully engaged DD and tested for a
while without dilating and came up with a prescription that pretty
much identical to "x". Then she said this reading is a bit on the
higher side and also since I never noted any problems with DD's vision
at home, she wanted to dilate and check again. She used a stronger
solution to dilate her pupils and checked again after 45 minutes. This
new reading "y" turned out to be negligible enough that she doesn't
need glasses.

But, DD also has astigmatism. So she gave me 3 choices:

1. The biggest problem with DD is that she's unable to relax her eye
muscles and she's over focusing. So she said we can use a solution to
dilate her pupils that lets her relax her eye muscles. We can use it a
few times a week after school. During that time she has to have
bifocals with reading glasses in the bottom half in case she wants to
read etc.

2. Get prescription glasses that address astigmatism and try to get
her to relax her eye without dilating or anything.

3. Get a 3rd opinion if that makes me more comfortable.

I felt that the optometrist did a more thorough job than the Ped
Ophthalmologist but I don't know who knows better. Also, does anyone
know if there any eye-muscle-relaxation-exercises that I can have my 5
yo do every day?

Any comments are appreciated. Thanks.

1) Can you post all the various prescriptions -- with and without
cycloplegia (dilation)?

First (x) from the Opthalmologist with dilation and optometrist
without dilation:

Right: sphere -3.00 Cyl: +1.25 Axis 123
Left: sphere -3.25 Cyl: +1.25 Axis 080

Second (y) at optometrist with dilation:

Right: sphere -0.25 Cyl: -0.75 Axis 021
Left: sphere 0 Cyl: -1.50 Axis 175

2) It might help to know if DD has had any history of binocular
function disorders (strabismus) or surgeries, and the specifics on
that, too -- perhaps including her alignment pre- and post-
operatively, if applicable.

None of the above.

3) Also, there's nothing to be gained ... and much to be lost ... in
paying any attention to Otis Brown.

I'm not an eye doctor, but a very interested patient.

Wow, you mean there's a whole 3.25 diopters of tonic accomodation in
the left eye? I am quite surprised!

I'm not surprised.

I'm not at ALL surprised. This is yet ANOTHER reason why Mike Tyner
KNOWS that you don't understand how LITTLE YOU know.

Well I didn't know about the difference of convention for writing
prescriptions with some of them in 'minus cylinder' and others in
'plus cylinder', so I didn't know there wasn't really a big difference
in the two prescriptions, so it just sounded like a huge amount of
accommodative spasm, so I was surprised. I am just a layperson, how am
I to know these things =P
Jan
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 4:22 pm
Guest
Zetsu schreef:


Quote:
Well I didn't know about the difference of convention for writing
prescriptions with some of them in 'minus cylinder' and others in
'plus cylinder', so I didn't know there wasn't really a big difference
in the two prescriptions, so it just sounded like a huge amount of
accommodative spasm, so I was surprised. I am just a layperson, how am
I to know these things =P

By keeping your eyes open and your mouth shut when reading the messages
in this newsgroup.

Jan (normally Dutch spoken)
Mike Tyner
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 5:31 pm
Guest
"Zetsu" <absolutelyinvincible@hotmail.com> wrote

Quote:
accommodative spasm, so I was surprised. I am just a layperson, how am
I to know these things =P

You're supposed to KNOW WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW.

It's how you avoid leaving turds in the swimming pool.

Do you really prefer toilet training in public?

-MT
David Robins, MD
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 11:40 pm
Guest
On 4/18/08 7:34 AM, in article
8e40cd18-accd-43b9-b10d-60a9abc6d456@a23g2000hsc.googlegroups.com,
"janesire@gmail.com" <janesire@gmail.com> wrote:

Quote:
On Apr 17, 4:07 pm, Neil Brooks <neil0...@yahoo.com> wrote:
On Apr 17, 1:25 pm, janes...@gmail.com wrote:



I took my 5 yo DD to a pediatric ophthalmologist. He dilated her eyes
and checked and came up with a prescription, let's say "x" which was
rather high (worse) reading. Since we don't have anyone in family that
had glasses DH wanted a second opinion so I took her to an optometrist
today. She was very thorough and fully engaged DD and tested for a
while without dilating and came up with a prescription that pretty
much identical to "x". Then she said this reading is a bit on the
higher side and also since I never noted any problems with DD's vision
at home, she wanted to dilate and check again. She used a stronger
solution to dilate her pupils and checked again after 45 minutes. This
new reading "y" turned out to be negligible enough that she doesn't
need glasses.

But, DD also has astigmatism. So she gave me 3 choices:

1. The biggest problem with DD is that she's unable to relax her eye
muscles and she's over focusing. So she said we can use a solution to
dilate her pupils that lets her relax her eye muscles. We can use it a
few times a week after school. During that time she has to have
bifocals with reading glasses in the bottom half in case she wants to
read etc.

2. Get prescription glasses that address astigmatism and try to get
her to relax her eye without dilating or anything.

3. Get a 3rd opinion if that makes me more comfortable.

I felt that the optometrist did a more thorough job than the Ped
Ophthalmologist but I don't know who knows better. Also, does anyone
know if there any eye-muscle-relaxation-exercises that I can have my 5
yo do every day?

Any comments are appreciated. Thanks.

1) Can you post all the various prescriptions -- with and without
cycloplegia (dilation)?

First (x) from the Opthalmologist with dilation and optometrist
without dilation:

Right: sphere -3.00 Cyl: +1.25 Axis 123
Left: sphere -3.25 Cyl: +1.25 Axis 080

Second (y) at optometrist with dilation:

Right: sphere -0.25 Cyl: -0.75 Axis 021
Left: sphere 0 Cyl: -1.50 Axis 175



2) It might help to know if DD has had any history of binocular
function disorders (strabismus) or surgeries, and the specifics on
that, too -- perhaps including her alignment pre- and post-
operatively, if applicable.

None of the above.


3) Also, there's nothing to be gained ... and much to be lost ... in
paying any attention to Otis Brown.

I'm not an eye doctor, but a very interested patient.


I notice you wrote the prescription "x" from the ophthalmologist was the
same as the optometrist, yet this is a plus-cylinder prescription.

You note the optometrist's dilated prescription, written in minus-cylinder.

Therefore, I wonder if the undilated numbers you got from the optometrist
may LOOK like the numbers from the ophthalmologist, but really are
different.

I suspect that the undilated numbers really are more minus than the dilated
from the ophthalmologist. However, I still cannot explain the difference
between the dilated numbers from the two exams, which should be more equal.
The strenght of the drops , as you said, may have had something to do with
it, and it is not clear which is correct.

A cylinder 1.00 or higher is a relative reason to prescribe glasses at age
6, per the Ophthalmology Academy guidelines. However, some kids see fine
anyway, and do not need glasses, and others see not so fine, and need the
glasses.

This is a quandry here. You have to put your faith I who you believe more,
or get a third opinion to help settle it.


David Robins, MD
Board certified Ophthalmologist
Pediatric ophthalmology and adult strabismus subspecialty
Dr Judy
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 3:26 pm
Guest
On Apr 17, 4:25 pm, janes...@gmail.com wrote:
Quote:
I took my 5 yo DD to a pediatric ophthalmologist. He dilated her eyes
and checked and came up with a prescription, let's say "x" which was
rather high (worse) reading. Since we don't have anyone in family that
had glasses DH wanted a second opinion so I took her to an optometrist
today. She was very thorough and fully engaged DD and tested for a
while without dilating and came up with a prescription that pretty
much identical to "x". Then she said this reading is a bit on the
higher side and also since I never noted any problems with DD's vision
at home, she wanted to dilate and check again. She used a stronger
solution to dilate her pupils and checked again after 45 minutes. This
new reading "y" turned out to be negligible enough that she doesn't
need glasses.

But, DD also has astigmatism. So she gave me 3 choices:

1. The biggest problem with DD is that she's unable to relax her eye
muscles and she's over focusing. So she said we can use a solution to
dilate her pupils that lets her relax her eye muscles. We can use it a
few times a week after school. During that time she has to have
bifocals with reading glasses in the bottom half in case she wants to
read etc.

2. Get prescription glasses that address astigmatism and try to get
her to relax her eye without dilating or anything.

3. Get a 3rd opinion if that makes me more comfortable.

I felt that the optometrist did a more thorough job than the Ped
Ophthalmologist but I don't know who knows better. Also, does anyone
know if there any eye-muscle-relaxation-exercises that I can have my 5
yo do every day?

Any comments are appreciated. Thanks.


As others have noted, the prescriptions are more similar than you
think due to being written in different forms.

The missing information for me is unaided and corrected acuity. If
the corrected acuity is not 20/20 in each eye and especially if the
corrected left acuity is less than the corrected right acuity, she
should wear glasses with astigmatism correction so as to prevent
amblopia.

Dr Judy
 
Page 1 of 1       All times are GMT - 5 Hours
The time now is Fri Jul 25, 2008 5:18 pm