How Young is TOO YOUNG for Contacts?
Thuy Ngo, O.D.
W
hen I was 11 years old, the world was blurry. Copying notes from the board was difficult. When I went to the eye doctor, he told my mom that I was
nearsighted and that I needed glasses. That was when I got my very first pair of glasses. The world changed before my eyes! I loved how clear everything was. I wanted to wear my new glasses all the time, but I didn’t because I was embarrassed. As an eye doctor, I see the dislike of glasses quite often in kids. I can tell you for certain that tears have been shed in my exam room for rocking their world with my recommendation for glasses. This is when contact lenses come in handy.
What are contact lenses? Contact lenses, or contacts, as we often refer to them, are pieces of plastic that are placed on the front part of your eyes allowing you to see clearly without glasses. For most cases, contact lenses are used as a substitute for glasses. However, they can be used to treat eye diseases and may also be used cosmetically to change the apparent color of your eyes. Moreover, kids who play sports may benefit from the use of contacts because they don’t fog up or slide down their nose, and they don’t have to worry about dropping them or breaking them.
Because contact lenses sit on the front part of your eyes, they are considered a medical device and should be treated as such. Proper fitting is extremely crucial to prevent eye irritation, or worse, eye infection that can lead to permanent scarring of the eye and damaged vision. Should your child need contact lenses, it is important to remember that they do not take the place of the glasses. I would recommend having a pair of glasses in their current prescription that they can fall back on. I have seen too many eye infections due to contact lens abuse that could easily be prevented if the patient would wear their glasses when they feel that their eyes are compromised. It is also critical for all contact lens wearers to see their eye doctor every year for an annual contact lens exam for two reasons: one, to check the health of their eyes and two, to ensure that the contact lenses still fit properly for good vision and comfort.
How young is too young for contact lenses? One study concluded that kids from age eight to eleven years can “independently care for daily disposable contact lenses and wear them successfully.” Having said that, parents should consider the maturity level of their child to help make this decision and should have this discussion with their eye doctor. In my opinion, each child needs to be evaluated on an individual basis. It’s a responsibility of both the parents and the child to ensure successful lens wear. Not only does the child have to learn how to care for the lens, but the parents also need to learn how to insert and remove them from the child’s eyes should problems occur.
So how is your child’s vision? Have they gotten their eyes checked this year? Do they need glasses but don’t want to wear them? Or do they love their glasses but hate wearing them during soccer practice? Maybe it’s time for an eye exam. Maybe it’s time to find out if contact lenses are right for them.
Thuy Ngo, O.D. 928-726-1100 2149 W. 24th St. Yuma, AZ
www.coronaoptique.com
Raising Yuma
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