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August is Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month. As summer comes to a close and families are preparing for school to start, this time is ideal for promoting annual eye exams for children. Healthy vision ensures kids are ready to learn in school and can meet critical developmental milestones.
Signs that a child has vision problems
Since children may not verbalize visual problems, parents should be aware of these symptoms to watch for:
These symptoms indicate potential vision disorders. Some common conditions in children include:
Additionally, about 3 percent of children under 18 are visually impaired or blind.
Children’s Eye Safety
Protecting children from accidents at home and during physical activities is another important consideration. Studies show that 30 percent of eye injuries in children under age 16 are sports-related.
Frequent causes of children’s eye injuries are related to:
Here are a few ways parents can protect children from eye injuries:
Recommend Proper Eyewear for Children
Using proper eyewear is another important aspect of children’s eye health. For sports, regular eyeglasses do not provide adequate protection. Protective sports eyewear includes polycarbonate lenses and faceguards. All sports eyewear must meet ASTM standards.
Children are more susceptible to the sun’s damaging ultraviolet rays. Only 5 percent of parents report that their children regularly wear sunglasses. This statistic emphasizes the need to inform parents about sun protection for kids.
Going back to school this year won’t be quite the same, as many classes will be taught remotely. With the increase in screen time, students will be frequently exposed to blue light. Although the long-term effects of blue light are not well understood, blue-light-blocking lenses can help prevent dry eyes, blurred vision and headaches.
R&D Optical Lab, an independent optical lab, offers a wide range of eyewear for your younger patients. We carry custom athletic eyewear, including prescription ski and swim goggles. For daily wear, the Bluloc lens is 100 percent UV blocking and filters out 95 percent of harmful rays (including blue light). We also offer BluTech lenses, which come in three tiers of blue-light protection. These lenses are an excellent choice for students who spend most of their day looking at digital devices. Please visit our website RandDOptical.com or call us at 513-273-4034 to learn more about our optical products, and how our old-school approach to customer service can benefit your optical practice. For more tips and our latest updates, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram or LinkedIn!
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