UPPER PENINSULA, Mich. (WJMN) – It’s almost time for back-to-school, which is why the American Association of Ophthalmology has designated the month of August as Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month.
From kindergarten to college, protecting a growing child’s vision is critical as the child fully develops into adolescence. On this Aspirus Medical Minute, we speak with Dr. Matthew Verbrigghe with Aspirus Health on when children should start getting eye exams and how often.
“The American Optometric Association recommends that children come in between six and 12 months. And most parents are actually surprised when they hear that because, you know, it’s hard to imagine doing an eye exam on a baby and what that what that looks like. But the reality is, is that the visual system is mostly developed by six months of age. So, anything that is preventing proper visual development, like a cataract, an eye turn either in or out, a large refractive error or glasses prescription, in either just one or both eyes can really prevent proper visual development and brain development in children. And the earlier we catch that, the better.
“So, we do prescribe glasses for children as young as a year old. So, it’s a great time for our first exam. And then typically after that, we’re recommending if everything is normal at that exam, will recommend a preschool exam like that, run those three or four years of age, and then starting in kindergarten, we recommend once a year up until through the through the school age,” said Verbrigghe.
Verbrigghe goes on to explain what signs and symptoms you should look out for when it comes to your children’s eyes.
“Just watching your kids for things that don’t look quite right. Okay, so I mean, obviously if they’re squinting at the board at school, right. It’s so for nearsighted kids, that’s the classic sign that, you know, they’re just doing this all the time. They’re squinting. But another big one that parents don’t necessarily associate with the vision is headaches. If kids are coming home from school, they’re getting headaches more especially after school, especially after doing an electronic work, you know, things on their tablets, their phones, reading, homework. If they’re experiencing double vision while they’re reading, if they’re, you know, they’re either really just tired or strained that the kids are rubbing their eyes frequently and all things like that are signs that it’s a good idea to come and get a visual vision exam,” said Verbrigghe.
If you would like to set up an eye exam for your child, you can do so online at aspirus.org.
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