My child doesn't complain, they don't need their eyes checked....

A lot of people are under the misconception that children don't need their eyes checked.  If they have a problem seeing, they would say something.....wouldn't they?  

Only 2% of parents would wait for symptoms to take a child to a pediatrician or a dentist for the first time, yet 24% of parents wait for their child to have symptoms before taking them to the pediatric eye doctor.

By the age of 6, it is recommended that a child has had three eye exams with the first one recommended as early as 6 months of age.  A complete eye exam can pick up critical issues like a lazy eye, uneven vision, astigmatism and even health issues like cancer.  A lot of these problems go unnoticed by a parent, yet early detection can prevent learning difficulties and vision loss in the future.

I have been asked how I can do an eye exam on a child that cannot read letters on an eye chart or who can't sit and answer, "Which is better, one or two?"  An exam on a child is different than an exam on an adult.  Since we cannot reliably count on them to tell us "Which is better," we utilize other testing and other instruments to assess the prescription of the eye and the development.  And don't worry, we have ways of picking up kiddos that want glasses but don't need them.

The eye is such a neat structure.  It is the only place to actually look inside the body and see the blood vessels.  Most people take it for granted until something isn't working. Looking through the pupil and inside the eye to complete the health assessment in a comprehensive vision exam is just as important as the checking for a prescription.  A retinoblastoma is the most common kind of eye cancer in children, and it most commonly occurs before the age of 6.  You may have seen people on social media showing pictures of their child with a white pupil in a family photo and how they found cancer.  That is a retinoblastoma.  The sooner it is found (hopefully before it creates a white pupil in photos) the better the outcome.

Family eye care is important!  Bring your child in today and get their eyes checked!