Has anyone ever experienced having a child who suddenly needed eyeglasses at the age of 13? This just happened to our youngest daughter. She used to use my iPad a lot of hours a day, at the very beginning I didn't realize the danger and control of the time she spend on the iPad. Now her sight have begin to deteriorate
The doctor reassured us that this was normal and the best way to prevent vision loss is wearing computer eyewear. He explained to us that the harmful blue light emitted from the screens (iPad, PC etc.)
I bought a pair of eyeglasses from Taime Optics for her, they claim that the eyeglasses can block 97% of blue light, it's effective but I'm a bit worried about how she will handle the adjustment of suddenly having to wear glasses - do kids still do the "four eyes" sort of teasing? Middles school is such a weird time anyway.
Could it be a vitamin deficiency of any kind? Could it be a sign of something else going on - diabetes or something?
(Yes, I am one of those moms that leans towards worrying too much over my daughter, and lately I've just been sort of not trusting doctors as much as I used to. Long story - several recent and bad experiences.)
Sometimes adolescence has something to do with it, something about hormonal changes and genetic codes suddenly entering the equation. My eyesight was 20 20 all the way up to i was 16, when suddenly i needed a presciption for near sightedness. I used then for the classroom and for driving, otherwise, i dont wear glasses. This pattern seemed to be typical in my family so there was some genetic aspect to it. OTOH, maybe there are competing theories out there to do with nutrition.
I had perfect eyesight until I was 11 and then suddenly boom I went blind. Got my first period the same year. The optometrist told us that hormonal changes during puberty can change the shape of the cornea. (This might be where the "masturbation makes you blind" myth came from.)
I started wearing glasses so I could see the board in school when I began to need them in sixth grade, but I didn't wear them all the time. Eventually, not wearing them strained my eyes to the point that they failed further. By 16 I needed them all the time and now at 35 I have a very strong prescription and can't even make it to the bathroom in an unfamiliar house without my glasses.
So yeah. Don't mess with eyesight. If she needs glasses, get them, and encourage her to keep them on when she needs to or her eyesight will get a whole lot worse. As for the teasing, I dunno, I haven't really noticed that being a thing anymore. A lot of people think glasses are cute, and hipsters are even wearing glasses without corrective lenses just to look hip. I've also gotten many compliments from men who found my glasses attractive.
I agree with the other posters that hormones are probably playing a role. Puberty, hormonal birth control, pregnancy and lactation can all have an effect, and not always in the same direction. So can the business of sitting in classroom all day. I needed glasses as a teen, but through a combination of not spending so much time in a classroom, not bothering to wear them (they broke, and by the time I got them fixed I was used to making do without them), pregnancy and lactation, my eyesight has improved to the point where I was even able to get the condition taken off my driver's license. I'm also pretty certain that my eyesight was worse than it should have been when I was a teen because of my optometrist over-prescribing, and my parents badgering me to wear my glasses all the time, whether I was doing something that they helped with or not.
Growth spurts can trigger vision problems, from hormones or an inherited condition.
Looking at a flat lit screen for hours can weaken the muscles in the eye that are supposed to adjust to distance.
My experience is that wearing glasses are cool and it has been the case for a long time. Elton John or the use of attitude glasses as a fashion accessory has been popular for a long time!
OTOH, my nephew inherited his father's myopia and my nephew refused to wear glasses in elementary school, so my sister had to get him contacts. He has worn contacts for years. I do not think the condition your daughter has would warrant contacts since the glasses are only for the computer. Your problem is going to be your daughter laying those glasses down and forgetting where they are. Get a chain or something to keep them close.
I started wearing glasses at 13, always have since. We had to get my 11 year old DD1 "reading" glasses a couple of months ago. They are prescription and she wears them with any screen time or while reading. All the other kids think DD1's glasses are cool or whatever the current lingo is these days. :grin: I got her the fashionable big, plastic colored frames and she gets so many positive comments on them that I now catch her wearing them while not reading!
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