Most children do not realize they have a vision problem because they have never known what good vision looks like. This is why eye exams are so critical for youngsters. In fact, a child may have 20/20 eyesight and still have a vision problem.
Children’s eyes are developing at a rapid pace and all their activities are reliant on their visual system, from learning and reading, to dancing and catching a ball. It is estimated that one in five children have a vision disorder.
Summerland Optometry is a family friendly clinic and we provide comprehensive pediatric eye assessments and take a special interest in myopia control, learning-related vision problems, strabismus, amblyopia and binocular vision disorders in children.
Over 80% of learning is visual.
Annual eye exams should be part of growing up. Being proactive and ensuring your
child has healthy eyes is one of the best ways to set your child up for success.
Your child should have their eyes examined: First exam should be at 6 months old, at 3 years of age and before starting kindergarten and annually once they are in school (note, kindergarten vision testing is a great screening tool but can miss many eye problems).
Children’s eye exams are partially covered by B.C. Medical Services Plan until they turn 19 years old.
Infant Eye Exams
Babies should see us for an assessment at the age of 6 months. This is normally a pretty quick check to ensure the babies' eyes are healthy and ensure there is no significant refractive error or strabismus.
Babies have a number of vision and eye health problems that can cause lasting damage if they are not caught and treated early.
Preschool Eye Exams
At the age of 3, we are able to do even more visual testing including depth perception, eye teaming and binocularity. This exam is very fun and normally involves watching a video. This is a common age to get a first pair of glasses if there is a significant glasses prescription.
Some symptoms that suggest your preschooler may have an eye health problem include:
School aged children Eye Exams
80% of learning is done with the eyes, so properly working eyes are vital for success at school. The school years are visually demanding periods of rapid growth and your child’s eyes change the most during these years. We should be monitoring your children’s eyes annually over this period.
At this age, we are also able to get a wide field optomap retinal image which is included in our comprehensive eye examination.
Depending on the results of these evaluations, additional tests of visual development and visual perceptual abilities may be recommended to effectively assess a patient’s total visual system.
Often, when children have visual issues, they may not even realize something is wrong. It is often their ‘normal’ or they don’t know how to communicate the problem. Parents are often unaware that their child might not be using both eyes together and many young children have strain from near focusing.
Dr. Kimberley Goods and Dr. Amber Jeannotte have young children so they are accustomed to working with children.
We will do our best to ensure your child is comfortable at their examination and maybe even have some fun! We go through some games with pictures, 3D glasses and often there is even a movie! We check their acuity and eye teaming; making sure their vision is strong and ready to support their learning.
These conditions both affect the ability of the eyes to work together as a team (or “eye teaming”).
Strabismus is when the eyes are misaligned. The affected eye often appears as if it is turned inwards (esotropia) or outwards (exotropia). Strabismus treatment can involve glasses, vision training, prismatic correction and sometimes even require surgery. Uncorrected strabismus usually leads to amblyopia.
Amblyopia or “lazy eye” is a neurological developmental vision problem that occurs during infancy and early childhood. The brain starts ignoring the visual sensory information from one eye (or both), due to either one eye being misaligned or one eye having a significantly different refractive error compared to the other eye. Essentially one eye is always out of focus compared to the other eye and the brain learns over time to ‘turn’ that eye off. Children do not grow out of amblyopia; it normally requires glasses and vision therapy. At Summerland Optometry we often prescribe Shaw lenses when there is a large refractive difference between the eyes to promote binocularity. If glasses do not fix the vision problem, children can enter our vision therapy program.
Myopia, or near-sightedness, occurs when the eyeball is too long or too powerful, resulting in blurred distance vision. Myopia progresses primarily due to elongation of the eyeball which occurs primarily between age 7 to 16. Myopia is on the rise for a variety of reasons including, but not limited to, genetics, an increase in near-work demands and a decrease in time spent outdoors.
As the eye becomes more near-sighted, the length of the eye increases and the retina is forced to stretch to accommodate this lengthening. This greatly increases your child’s risk of serious ocular health complications later in life.
There are now many options to prevent myopia progression. Your doctor will discuss myopia management with you if your child’s myopia is progressing at a rapid rate.
A learning-related vision problem directly affects how we learn, read and sustain close work. Visual dysfunctions can manifest in ways that are confused with dyslexia, ADHD and other learning disabilities because they affect a child’s ability to focus for reading and school work.
Hyperopia, the most common refractive error found in young children, occurs because the eye is too short. A hyperopic child can still see clearly but the vision can become quite strained because they need to focus their eyes excessively. Hyperopic children often have trouble keeping their eyes straight as human eyes naturally converge when they focus. This can lead to an eye turn, or strabismus. It is very important to rule hyperopia at a young age.
Astigmatism is another common refractive error found in children. It occurs when the front surface of the eye is slightly irregular or cylindrical in shape. This prevents the light from focusing properly on the retina, resulting in the vision being blurred or distorted. Glasses are needed to correct the astigmatism as uncorrected astigmatism can lead to amblyopia.
Myopia management is an area of eye care that uses various treatments to prevent or slow your child’s myopia progression. Depending upon your child’s specific needs, our doctors will recommend different management options.
Currently, there are four main methods used in clinical practice to help slow the progression of myopia including specialty spectacle lenses, soft multifocal contact lenses, ortho-K and atropine therapy.
Myopia, or near-sightedness, occurs when the eyeball is too long or too powerful, resulting in blurred distance vision. Myopia progresses primarily due to elongation of the eyeball which occurs primarily between age 7 to 16. Myopia is on the rise for a variety of reasons including, but not limited to, genetics, increased near-work demands and decreased time spent outdoors.
It is estimated that 28% of the Canadian population is myopic and according to WHO, this figure is expected to grow to 58% by the year 2050. Myopia is also starting at earlier ages and progressing at a faster rate than seen historically.
Generally, once you become myopic, it tends to worsen over time. Higher levels of myopia are associated with significantly higher risks of sight-threatening eye diseases such as glaucoma, retinal detachments and macular degeneration.
Although glasses and standard contact lenses can correct your child’s eye sight, they do not treat the underlying cause of myopia or slow its progression. There is so much research dedicated to myopia prevention and we can now slow its progression.
Myopia management is one of the newest and most exciting areas in optometry. Our optometrists have extra training in myopia management and will take the time to discuss your treatment options. This is an evolving field and we are dedicated to stay up-to-date with the latest therapies.
There are four main methods currently used in myopia management. These methods vary in effectivity, but we will help choose the best option for your child’s lifestyle and rate of myopia progression. The earlier the intervention, the better.
Speciality Glasses
A great option for myopia management. They are special lenses that have areas of defocus built into the periphery of the lens, creating a myopic defocus on the retina.
Multifocal Contact Lenses
This is a very easy method if your child is interested in contact lenses.
The contact lens design has optical rings of distance power and near power to create the appropriate mid-peripheral defocus. This, in turn, minimizes the stimulus for myopia progression by focusing the light in front of the peripheral retina.
Atropine Eye Drops
Research has shown that low-dose atropine can help slow myopia progression. The low dose minimizes side effects including increased pupil size or blurred near vision. This method is commonly added when we are not getting the desired reduction in myopia progression with glasses or contact lenses.
Orthokertalogy (Ortho-K)
This method uses custom-designed gas permeable contact lenses that are worn at night that reshape the cornea to temporarily reduce refractive error. Our clinic does not currently offer orthokeratology at this time.
Vision goes much beyond the ability to see 20/20. Dr. Kimberley Goods has done extensive training in vision therapy and rehabilitation. We offer an optometric vision therapy program for children that have visual deficiencies that cannot be treated adequately with just glasses, contact lenses and/or patching.
Over 15 visual skills are required to succeed in reading, learning, sports, and in life. Seeing '20/20' is just one of those visual skills.
Vision therapy can be beneficial in children with the following:
The Eye M growing program is an amazing program offered by Hoya to support children that many families find very valuable. A child’s vision is developing and can change very quickly — sometimes in the span of a few months!
Contact us now or see store for more details!
*Valid for 16 months, frame cost not included.
See options:
Use the second pair of lenses right away!
Be proactive - new lenses in the future
Doctor’s recommendation
We carry many strong, comfortable and stylish kid’s frames. A good fitting frame is essential for children’s glasses. Our optical team takes the time to ensure the frame is fitting properly and we are always available to adjust the frame – Kid’s frames can take a beating.
Our optical staff take the time to discuss the doctor’s lens recommendations whether it be, myopic management lenses, anti-fatigue lenses to help with near tasks, Shaw lenses for amblyopia or photochromic lenses. Our doctors perform thorough eye examinations with extra emphasis on your child’s focusing system, binocular visual system and myopia progression.
Many parents don’t understand the importance of sunglasses for children.
However, a significant part of a person’s lifetime exposure to UV occurs before the age of 18. Children spend so much time outside and their immature lenses allow a higher portion of UV to reach the retina. Investing in lenses for your child that provide sun protection is critical so they may enjoy the great outdoors safely.
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Address:
13225 N Victoria Road
Summerland, BC
V0H 1Z0;
Tel: 250 494-9266.
Summerland Optometry
13225 N Victoria Road
Summerland, BC
V0H 1Z0
Tel: 250 494-9266
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