Kids And Contacts - How To Decide If Your Child Is Ready
If your child is merely in need of corrective lenses, you may think that contacts aren't an option until he or she reaches some "magic age" - perhaps twelve years old.
The truth is that even babies can be fitted with contacts and can benefit from the use of contacts. Take a look at some applications in which children or even infants might use contacts.
For example, there are many eye problems and procedures that require that a child require a patch for a specific period of time. Sometimes, the patch is used to save the muscles in one eye or to work the muscles in the other.
But in other cases, an eye patch may actually be used to block the light. When that's the need, a special contact that blocks light might be used instead of a patch. Children can be cruel and making a child wear a patch could create real social problems for that youngster. A light-blocking contact might be a better option.
Cataracts are typically considered a problem of "old folks," but even children can suffer the effects of cataracts. The surgery to correct cataracts is typically fairly routine, but the recovery process can be difficult for small children or infants. Using contacts as the child begins to recover can sometimes be beneficial in the healing process.
As the technology continues to advance, health care professionals are able to pinpoint vision issues even in infants. No longer are children required to point out the direction of the legs on the eye chart "E," or even say the names of particular pictures to determine the extent of vision problems. And when those problems are determined in infants, the possible remedies are sometimes very limited.
Keeping corrective lenses on babies isn't often practical and the other option is to wait until the child is older to introduce the correction needed. That wait can sometimes cause further damage and using contacts at an earlier age could be a way to slow or even correct the problems.
If your child simply has a vision problem that requires corrective lenses, the decision of when to allow (or encourage) contacts over glasses becomes an issue of responsibility, personal desire and lifestyle.
Some active children who show sufficient responsibility to care for the contacts may find the relative freedom of contacts an incredible benefit. In this case, parents and physicians have to decide when a child is ready for contacts.
The truth is that even babies can be fitted with contacts and can benefit from the use of contacts. Take a look at some applications in which children or even infants might use contacts.
For example, there are many eye problems and procedures that require that a child require a patch for a specific period of time. Sometimes, the patch is used to save the muscles in one eye or to work the muscles in the other.
But in other cases, an eye patch may actually be used to block the light. When that's the need, a special contact that blocks light might be used instead of a patch. Children can be cruel and making a child wear a patch could create real social problems for that youngster. A light-blocking contact might be a better option.
Cataracts are typically considered a problem of "old folks," but even children can suffer the effects of cataracts. The surgery to correct cataracts is typically fairly routine, but the recovery process can be difficult for small children or infants. Using contacts as the child begins to recover can sometimes be beneficial in the healing process.
As the technology continues to advance, health care professionals are able to pinpoint vision issues even in infants. No longer are children required to point out the direction of the legs on the eye chart "E," or even say the names of particular pictures to determine the extent of vision problems. And when those problems are determined in infants, the possible remedies are sometimes very limited.
Keeping corrective lenses on babies isn't often practical and the other option is to wait until the child is older to introduce the correction needed. That wait can sometimes cause further damage and using contacts at an earlier age could be a way to slow or even correct the problems.
If your child simply has a vision problem that requires corrective lenses, the decision of when to allow (or encourage) contacts over glasses becomes an issue of responsibility, personal desire and lifestyle.
Some active children who show sufficient responsibility to care for the contacts may find the relative freedom of contacts an incredible benefit. In this case, parents and physicians have to decide when a child is ready for contacts.