Hello doctor, My son aged 13 years has got his left eye -11 and right with -8. I am now very worried what good precautions should I take with him. Can you suggest me what should I do?
Hello. I have gone through what you have mentioned and understand your anxiety about your son's eyesight. - 11D and - 8D are high myopic powers and the chances are that the power may progress as your son is still young. My advice to you is: 1. Avoid reading or holding objects very near to the eye. This will cause myopia to progress faster and will worsen the condition. 2. Every six monthly visits or follow up visits as per doctors advise. Since the myopia is of a high degree, there will be excessive stretching and degeneration of the structures of the eyeball. This can cause problems such as retinal detachment. Regular follow-ups help us in picking up changes faster and in preventing such complications as retinal detachment. 3. Ask your son to regularly self-check his vision. This is done by closing each eye one at a time and observing how a particular object or letter looks. In case he is able to pick up any change or drop in vision, please bring it to the notice of your ophthalmologist. 4. Urgently visit your doctor in case of a sudden drop in vision or multiple raindrops like images in front of the eye or experiences of light flashes in front of the eye. The main concern now is to observe and ensure that his maximum vision potential with glasses is as close to 6/6 or 20/20 as possible. After his power has stabilized, there are multiple options to remain glasses-free. For example, he can undergo implantable contact lenses (ICL) procedure and be rid of glasses.