Use of Spectacles in Children ?

Parents are startled when told that their child needs spectacles. It is, however, surprising how easily a child takes to glasses once he/she finds that they make him/ her see clearly in and out of school. Many times, teachers at school bring to the notice of the parents that their child does not respond to what is written on the blackboard. They request the parents to take the child to an eye doctor to detect the cause for headaches, styes, watering, blinking or fluttering of the eyes. In some cases, the parents also notice that their child is not seeing things normally and refer to a specialist. The specialist, in all these cases, conducts an exhaustive examination of the eye primarily to exclude eye diseases. This is a very important step. Once the specialist detects that the child needs spectacles, he writes a prescription and instructs the parents about the correct use of these. The duty of the parents begins from then on. A strong word of advice to the parents: if a child needs glasses for a better sight there is no alternative either by way of medicine or operation. For the sake of the child, glasses must be given without any hesitation or loss of time. Ophthalmology “ells us that delay in wearing glasses can make the eye lazy and lead to partial blindness. It can lead to the brain shutting off its connection with the eyes. If the delay is too prolonged glasses will not help and blindness becomes permanent. This is termed as amblyopia. In order to avoid such unfortunate circumstances, all schools should run eye clinics where children with faulty eyesight are routinely examined and advised proper treatment. The parents’ cooperation is imperative. They should discard all superstitions and orthodoxy in this respect. It is estimated that nearly 25 per cent of school-going children suffer from defective vision most of which can be corrected with glasses.

Those children break glasses, or that they fall off when they run, is not enough reason for avoiding them. A spare pair of spectacles must always be handy. The glass used in making spectacles is such that it never splinters but breaks into three to four pieces which hang in the frame. Modem spectacles of plastic lenses are commonly used for children. The splinters rarely get into the eyes, because the moment an accidental injury occurs near the eyes, the eyes automatically close by reflex action. This is a natural means for the eyes to protect themselves from external injury.