Question
Hello Dr. Axelrod,
My 6 year old daughter received a prescription of OD: +3.50,
-1.00, 180 and OS: 3.00, -1.00, 180 back in August of this year. This week she mentioned that her glasses seem to be less effective and that they seem to work a bit better if she holds them a few inches away from her face now. I have scheduled an appointment with an opthalmologist but I have two concerns I'm hoping you can address in the meantime. 1) She can see things very well up close but not far away, which I understand as being nearsighted; but I have read that a sphere prescription beginning with a + (as hers does) means farsightedness. Can you explain this? Is it possible there is an error in her prescription? and 2)This seems to me to be pretty poor vision for her age and was hoping if there is any chance it could improve as she ages or if there are any excercises or vitamins that could help her naturally improve her eyesight. Thanks in advance for any information you can provide!!
Sincerely,
A Very Concerned Daddy..
Answer
Hi Darnell,
Your daughter is 'moderately' farsighted. If she were nearsighted and put on her plus glasses they would make her more nearsighted and her distance vision would be worse than no glasses. When she holds the glasses further from her eyes they become effectively stronger, more plus. You didn't say whether she was commenting on far vision or near when she did this. If for far, she could use stronger glasses. If for near, she may only be noticing a magnification effect, not clarity or sharpness. It is usual for farsighted kids to grow less farsighted as they get older but she will probably not outgrow farsightedness. However, she may not wear glasses all the time if she becomes less farsighted and her eye's focusing system can compensate without bothering her. As of now, she probably should wear the glasses all the time so her visual system isn't strained. A strained focusing system can lead to the eyes crossing, or tending to cross and that can make vision more difficult especially at her age when she will be learning to read, etc. Finally, be careful when saying "She can see things very well up close but not far away" because you must be sure to have adequately small letters up close. Often we use near targets that are optically larger than the distance ones we consider. Also, 6 year olds may not attend tiny distant letters as willingly as close ones. There aren't nutritional supplements at her age that I know of, though for older people we encourage them. Eye exercises are fine, but usually used for kids with eye movement or auto-focusing problems and I didn't read of those concerns. Sometimes an optometrist as compared to an ophthalmologist will do more tests or have more exam time for young patients and offer more patient education. So if you don't feel that you've received enough reassurance and explanations form her eye doctor, see another.
Hope that helps,
Mitch Axelrod, OD
