Learn more about what happens during a kids eyesight and eye health exam:
First of all, children are all unique and individual, so one of the key elements to a successful eye examination for an optometrist is quickly building rapport and trust of your child. This can come down to the personality of the optometrist and their confidence in dealing with tiny humans!
Our optometrist Dr Marrwa Hafez (optometrist) is a mum of 3 and is very confident in assessing children from birth, up to any age! So you can rest assured that your child will be dealt with kindly and gently, just as she would like her own to be treated.
So what should you expect for your child's eye exam? Here are some common areas checked during a kids eye test:
Vision: Your child's ability to see letters (or shapes if they do not know their ABCs yet) is tested and compared to how the average child their age should be able to see.
Refraction: this is a well known part of the eye exam in which lenses and other methods are used to correct your child's vision if they require glasses.
Eye alignment: checking to see if your child's eyes are pointing in the right direction and not turning in or out. This is an important test to rule out conditions such as amblyopia (Lazy eye). nerve palsy and strabismus or when assessing eye strain/double vision.
Stereopsis: is tested to ensure your child's depth perception is normal. A poor result on this test can be a sign of amblyopia, strabisumus or lazy eye.
Colour vision testing: commonly performed using an ISHIHARA PSEUDOISOCHROMARIC TEST PLATES, is used to determine if your child perceives colours normally, or suffers from congenital colour vision deficiency.
Pupils: their ability to react to light is tested carefully to make sure there are no underlying illnesses such as rare tumours or neurologiclal disorders.
Eye movements: we assess your child's eyes' ability to accurately and smoothly move and track normally. This test can also pick up rare eye diseases or neurological problems.
External eye health: is checked to ensure that the outer portion of your child's eyes are healthy. Common conditions optometrists look for are: allergic eye disease, dry eye disease, cataracts, blepharitis and childhood glaucoma.
Internal eye health: is checked to ensure the inside part of your child's eyes are healthy. Optometrists check the health of their optic nerve, macula, blood vessels, and retina in general.
Intraocular pressure: measurement is not routinely performed on all children because children rarely have high eye pressure. We are prepared in clinic with gentle methods to perform this test using the iCare tonometer for the children who do require this test. It is fast, painless and non-intimidating to children vs traditional methods of measuring eye pressure.
How much does my kids eye test cost? Is my kids eye test free?
At Healthy eyes optical Broadmeadows, we are a bulk billing clinic, so if you hold a valid Medicare card, the eye exam is absolutely free!
If you have any questions or would like to book an appointment please get in touch!
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