Is it possible to strengthen your eyes-should I make my 6yr old wear her glasses?

Question

My child is 6 and can't see far far away. The doctor says she has 20/40 which was 2 lines above 20/20 vision but I think I need a 2nd look. At the doctor's office she couldn't see something that was so tiny from far away. My question is: in reality she's not going to need to see something so tiny from far away, not even in school is anything written on the board as tiny as the letters that she had to recognize at the doctor so should I make her wear eye glasses. She says she can see the board in school so should I listen to the doctor or my daughter afterall I don't even know if the prescription of the glasses are correct because my child could not understand the questions that he was asking her like is it blurry or more clear to determine the strength needed for the glasses and would shush me when I tried to clarify to her what he was asking. If she does need to wear the glasses is it possible to strengthen your eyes so that she won't need them.

Answer 1

i think you should make her wear her glasses because if you don't your vision can get worse.

Answer 2

My older daughter started becoming nearsighted when she was about eight years old. At first, she wouldn't wear her glasses and we had to keep reminding her to carry them when we went out in public. Over time, her prescription started getting worse and she realized how badly she needed her glasses. Now, at 18, she's so bad that the first thing she does when she wakes up in the morning is to reach for her glasses. I hate to say it but developing a stronger prescription is a good way to persuade children to want to wear their glasses.

Answer 3

it's hard to get kids to ware there glasses they hate them well my kids do any way //

Answer 4

I would try, see how she liked them, and ask her if she notices a difference!

Answer 5

Yes.  There are eye exercises you can do to strengthen your eyes.  If the doctor prescribed glasses she should wear them.

Answer 6

Tell her to always keep them with her but not to wear them all the time. I am 16 and have always worn glasses since about when I was 5. My eyes have NOT gotten stronger. I suggest telling her to only wear them if she needs them, then to take them off.

I am almost legally blind because my eyes keep getting worse from wearing my stupid glasses. Now I can't take them off even if I wanted to because I get migraines if I do.

Answer 7

1. No you can't strengthen your eyes.

2. Take her to another doctor that specializes in dealing with children so she can be adequately evaluated.

3. Unlike someone below has said-glasses do not weaken your eyes either. Your eyesight can naturally get worse with age whether you wear glasses or not.

Answer 8

I have tried eye exercises. They work a little and I bet she could get off of glasses. 20/40 is not that bad. I've read that people can improve up to 1 diopter and I think that's about what I could do also (My prescription was -5 and I can wear -4.25 and still see clearly. I exercised them about half an hour a day for a month straight to do that) . I wish I knew that when I was in grade school and first started wearing glasses.

This is how glasses work. Our eyes get slightly near sighted. We get glasses. We get more near sighted. We get stronger glasses. This keeps going for about 8 years until they level off.

Anyway, if it was me, I wouldn't make her wear glasses if she can do what she needs to do. I would also encourage her to do eye exercises here and there throughout the day and see how it goes. I'm not sure a 6 year old would manage half an hour every day. Perhaps look at her thumb (or something close like a thumb) and focus, then look far away and focus. Maybe during TV commercials if she watches TV , while riding in a car or something that isn't too inconvenient.

If she reads a lot, very weak reading glasses might help her from getting worse. Kind of the opposite of what we are told to do. I use a less strong prescription and it keeps my eyes from getting worse at work.

Answer 9

i dont know about stregthening your eyes but drs go to school for 40 years of their lives :O) so listen to him. as for making her wear glasses if she doesnt need them? would you make her use crutches if she didnt need them? hope this helps

Answer 10

Did you see an actual eye doctor or go someplace like Walmart or Costco? I've learned that if you go somewhere like Walmart the prescription isnt 100% accurate. I have learned the hard way it is better to go to a specialist to make sure you get the correct prescription, and they use machines that are able to tell better what the prescription is rather thatn they asking her which one looks more blurry, that way doesnt work too great becuase on most of them you are just guessing anyways because you can't really tell. Ok anyways If she is that young her eyes are still "growing" so if she does have a little problem seeing I would highly suggest having her wear the glasses. When I was younger I only needed to wear them for 2 weeks and I was embarrassed so I didn't, now it's too late and I have to wear glasses and it won't get better unless I get laser eye surgury. Hope this helped

also, I have always had a low prescription, i als didn't complain when i was younger, i am 20 now and my eyesight still isnt too bad, just a little worse, but it does effect me in college a little. I would just play it safe.

Answer 11

Yes that is possible. But you need to make sure she wears them now or her eyes will get weaker instead of stronger and she will need to wear glasses forever. She is six and should be able to understand blurry or clear and know what she can see and what she cannot. Why take a chance with her eyes? The eye doctor does more than just that type of test to determine a prescription. I would believe him.