Children’s Vision: The Right Pair of Glasses

Children’s Vision: The Right Pair of Glasses

As everyone who needs them knows, glasses are much more than just a fashion accessory. Eyeglasses allow us to see clearly, they allow us to read; simply put, they reveal the world to us. For children they do all of this and more.

For children, eyeglasses can be:

  • a treatment plan to correct visual dysfunction
  • a corrective tool to improve their vision
  • they can open up the world of academics
  • they can help keep them safe in sport
  • and they can become an integral part of a child’s self-image

With so much at stake, choosing the right pair of eyeglasses is extremely important. But don’t worry a Licensed Optician will guide you through the process.

At School

Your child is faced with many visually challenging situations in their daily routine at school. From seeing the board across the room to the hours spent on screens and devices, the visual demands are high and varied.

A Licensed Optician will help your child best meet those needs and be able to update you on the latest advances in technology and concerns in the industry.

For example, did you know that it is no longer enough just to help your child see those screens clearly and remove reflections to reduce fatigue and strain? We now know we also need to protect their developing eyes from long term damage from the high energy blue light inherent in those advanced displays.

Your Licensed Optician is required to keep up on the latest research in the industry and to pass that knowledge on to you.

Activities

As anyone with children knows, kids are naturally harder on everything than most adults. With this in mind, your Licensed Optician is going to show your kids frames designed for durability and recommend impact resistant lenses to protect your children’s vision.

And if your child plays sports they’re likely going to recommend a second pair. From hockey to soccer and everything else imaginable the thing all these activities have in common is the need for good visual acuity and protection.

But the proper pair of sports glasses doesn’t just let your child see better, it also protects your child’s eyes. Impact resistant frames and lenses, a step up from your child’s regular glasses, act as a crucial line of defense protecting their relatively fragile ocular structures from balls, pucks, or even sticks.

Sport should be fun, but it should also be as safe as possible.

Taking Care of Them

Choosing the right visual solutions for your child’s daily demands is an important aspect of keeping them healthy; but, it’s also important to remember that their eyes are still developing and any solution must take into account the long term consequences.

Ocular Health and Development

Though precision placement and accurate measurements are important for all eyeglass wearers, for children it is even more crucial.

Your child’s eyeglasses often do more than simply correct their vision, they will often help build the strength in the muscles surrounding the eye helping to correct a lazy eye, or stimulate a weak eye to function and be recognized by the child’s brain and thereby prevent potential blindness.

Ongoing research has led to a myriad of new technological advances. Studies in myopia control have led to lens designs that can help slow the digression of your child’s vision.  Research into light has led to breakthroughs in Ultra Violet and Blue Light filtering to better protect your child’s vision.

It is your Licensed Optician’s job to help you navigate this ever-changing environment and best protect your child’s vision today and tomorrow.

Conclusion

After all the health and visual needs, after all the technological advances and breakthroughs, and after all the safety and prevention are taken into account, we are still left with one incredibly important factor; your child’s psychological needs.

As with adults, a child’s eyewear is the first thing many people will notice about them and as such it is important that it represent them. Choosing the right frame, colour, and shape can boost a child’s confidence and attitude. A child’s eyeglasses become part of who they are and who they want to be.

A Licensed Optician will guide them carefully.

Derick Summers
R.O Freelance Optician and Trainer