POSTED BY:
Sharon Lehman, MD

It’s actually not a matter of age when a child can wear contact lenses. What families need to consider is whether the child can practice good hygiene and take responsibility to care for the lenses. There may be 9-year-olds who can responsibly handle contacts and 16-year-olds who cannot. Virtually all contacts nowadays are “soft,” meaning they don’t require a long adaptation period in order to wear them easily. How the patient handles the contacts is what really matters. Many families start to think about contact lenses when their kids are involved in sports. This is understandable since glasses may be cumbersome and offer less-than-perfect vision on the field of play. Parents shouldn’t push for kids to wear contacts, but ask themselves instead: Is the child motivated and capable of caring for contact lenses conscientiously? That is key. Here are some other general questions that I get from parents: Are kids […]

By now we all know the benefits of kids playing outside: The physical activity, exposure to vitamin D, as well as the development of thinking, motor, and social skills, and even stress reduction. But did you ever think it could improve your kids’ vision? What is myopia? The American Academy of Ophthalmology defines myopia, commonly referred to as “nearsightedness,” as “an eye focusing disorder in which close objects look clear, but distant objects appear blurred.” It is the No. 1 reason kids need glasses. Myopia usually occurs in school-age children right around the onset of puberty, and generally slows or stops progressing in the mid to late teens. About 30 percent of the U.S. population has myopia. While it’s believed to be an inherited condition, the progression of myopia can actually be affected by the way people use their eyes. Those who spend a lot of time reading, working at a […]