child suddenly near-sighted

[Reader]

What could cause a child to be suddenly near-sighted? Complete vision exam with well-respected optometrist 1 year ago showed he had 20/10 vision, and this week it was 20/60. Took him to a pediatric ophthalmologist who said the first person must not have known what they were doing (because she wasn't a "real doctor", just an optometrist) and he must have always been near-sighted, but this all started after pink eye two weeks ago. He's squinting when he never used to squint. Can pink eye cause that much damage? Can children's eyes change that fast? No one in our family wears glasses so we don't have much experience.

[sariana]

Vision can change that fast. Really. Is he growing a lot otherwise? Rapid body growth=rapid eye growth, too.

Mine went south really, really fast. Within one school year. To 20/200.

[Reader]

I'm sorry to hear that your vision changed that fast, but that really helps me. Was there anything to be done to slow the progression?

[Globetrotter]

Optometrists are the experts on this. I wouldn’t trust anyone else to do a refraction, because this is what they do day in and day out. It’s not unusual for sudden vision changes In childhood. That doesn’t even sound all that extreme to me.

[Globetrotter]

I'm sorry to hear that your vision changed that fast, but that really helps me. Was there anything to be done to slow the progression?

there are some contact lenses they can wear at night to help slow the process, but I don’t see the point, unless they are competitive athletes or something My dd cried when the optometrist suggested it- we switched to someone with Better interpersonal skills!

https://www.aoa.org/news/clinical-ey...myopia-in-kids

I don’t think it’s a big deal to wear glasses

[Reader]

We're not really worried about the wearing glasses. We were just worried that there was an infection or something serious going on. We had no idea it could change that fast and not to have noticed anything until he had pink eye. It's reassuring to know fast changes aren't all that unusual.

[niccig]

DS had glasses just for reading, then at next appointment a year later, his vision was much worse. Same optometrist. He had a growth spurt that year. Everyone on my side of the family has poor eyesight so it wasn’t a surprise. DS either wears glasses or contacts. My vision keeps getting worse and I’ve got astigmatism, I’m going to need bifocals soon. Wearing glasses is not the end of the world.


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[Reader]

Optometrists are the experts on this. I wouldn’t trust anyone else to do a refraction, because this is what they do day in and day out. It’s not unusual for sudden vision changes In childhood. That doesn’t even sound all that extreme to me.

Thanks. I was kind of shocked the ophthalmologist would say that about an optometrist. I thought they worked together all the time, and I thought most people went to optometrists to get exams so I was surprised to hear him ask if we'd ever been to a real doctor to have an eye exam.

[Globetrotter]

Thanks. I was kind of shocked the ophthalmologist would say that about an optometrist. I thought they worked together all the time, and I thought most people went to optometrists to get exams so I was surprised to hear him ask if we'd ever been to a real doctor to have an eye exam.

There are turf wars amongst professionals But you are right… They normally work together because they do different things. That was very unprofessional of your ophthalmologist, IMO.
I wouldn’t go to an ophthalmologist for an eye exam, only if there was some indication of disease or if I was genetically predisposed to eye disease.

[MMMommy]

How old is your DS? I have terrible nearsightedness--the worst. DD2 has been wearing Ortho K lenses for over 2 1/2 years now, and it has been fantastic in slowing, almost stopping her progression of nearsightedness. However, she is 14 and is mature enough to handle the responsibility of these kinds of lenses. Probably not ideal for young ones.