Glasses are a necessity for children who need to wear them from early childhood. They provide protection against harmful UV rays, improve eyesight, and prevent eye strain. The lenses also allow light into the eyes, helping to regulate sleep patterns.
Children between six and eighteen years old require different types of eyewear depending on their development stage. For example, they need prescription glasses for reading, distance viewing, and sports activities. Children under seven years old usually don’t need corrective lenses.
The following is an overview of what you can expect to see in your child’s eyeglasses.
Prescription Eyeglasses
Children with vision problems may benefit from wearing glasses. Prescription eyeglasses correct refractive errors such as nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hypermetropia) or astigmatism. These conditions cause blurred vision because the lens focuses images at different distances.
Children with these disorders often have trouble focusing on close objects like books, toys, or other people. This problem is called “accommodative insufficiency.”
To help compensate for this condition, some children wear bifocals, which combine two lenses that focus at different distances. Bifocals are especially helpful if your child has both hypermetropic and astigmatic conditions.
Children with astigmatism typically have blurry vision due to irregularly shaped corneas. Astigmatism causes light entering the eye to be focused at different points along the retina.
To correct astigmatism, most children wear single-vision contact lenses. Contact lenses are more comfortable than eyeglasses. However, they must be replaced every few months.
Children with astigmatic conditions sometimes experience headaches or double vision after using contacts. If your child experiences any discomfort while wearing contacts, ask your doctor about prescribing eyeglasses instead.
Distance Viewing Glasses
For children who do not have vision problems, but still need glasses for safety reasons, distance viewing glasses are available. Distance viewing glasses are designed to magnify distant objects so that they appear larger.
These glasses are useful for driving, playing sports, watching television, and performing other tasks where it is important to view distant objects clearly.
Sports Eyeglasses
If your child participates in sports, he or she will probably need special eyeglasses. Sports eyeglasses protect the eyes by reducing glare from bright lights and improving peripheral vision.
They also reduce the risk of injury when participating in sports.
Sunglasses
Sunglasses are an alternative to eyeglasses.
Sunglasses offer protection against ultraviolet rays, wind, dust, and rain.
Although sunglasses may look “cool,” they are not appropriate for all situations. For example, sunglasses are not suitable for swimming because water could enter the lens through small cracks.
Your child’s vision specialist can recommend the best type of sunglasses for him or her.