Hello doctor, Please find the eye report of my 4-year-old son. He is not getting much issues in walking, in long-distance reading and in anything, but in the eye test report he got -4 and -2.5 spherical numbers in the eyes. Is it a very serious number? I am very tensed as I thought - 4 is a very big number for a child? Will the number increase if he wears glasses constantly? How this much number came as we did his eye checkup at the time of birth as well as at the age of 2. Please assist as we are very tensed for his glasses and number.
Hello. I have gone through your attached photo. (attachment removed to protect patient identity).  There are both spherical and cylindrical powers in both of his eyes. This power is large for a 4-year-old boy and I understand your concern. Regarding the cause, the given age, I will say that this power, probably has to do with the pattern of his eye growth. It is a bit longer than normal. Usually, the most intelligent people who are bit more mature than the rest have to develop such a thing. Another important cause is seeing things by holding them very close (for example: phone, books, etc.), near work increases myopia. But nobody can exactly predict what the cause could be. Regarding progression, even if he wears the glasses regularly, there could be variations in his power. As I said, this power is due to the lengthening of the eyeball and the eyeballs keep growing as he grows. This is the reason why your doctor would have called you back for a follow up every six months or every year. Wearing glasses constantly helps in preventing complications like cross eyes (squint) and amblyopia (lazy eye). Amblyopia is a condition where, due to weakness of the visual nerve and brain vision centers, the patient can no longer see the smallest letters even with the maximum power, this can hamper his chances of getting into a few jobs like armed forces, etc. So, the best course of action would be: 1. Stop seeing things from close by(avoid mobile phones, computers and read books from as far away as possible). 2. Do not rub the eyes (this can increase the cylinder power). 3. Wear glasses constantly to prevent complications like squint and amblyopia. 4. Do not miss follow-ups and consult your ophthalmologists in case of a sudden dip in vision. I hope this helps.