Book an Eye Exam for Your Child with our Louisville Eye Doctor!
Children of all ages, from babies to teenagers, have unique visual needs and are at an increased risk for particular vision conditions. At Gaddie Eye Centers, our friendly eye doctors are trained and experienced at performing comprehensive pediatric eye exams in our Louisville offices.
Even though your kid may not complain that he or she can’t see clearly, that’s not a good reason to push off scheduling a routine eye exam! Often, children don’t complain about their eyes – even if their world looks blurry. Instead, they simply get used to how they see. However, an undiagnosed and untreated vision problem could interfere with their performance in school and on the sports field. It can also get in the way of socializing with confidence. That’s why scheduling routine Louisville pediatric eye exams is critical!
When is it Time to Schedule a Pediatric Eye Exam?
Our team of Louisville eye doctors follow the American Optometric Association (AOA) guidelines:
- First eye exam at 6 months old
- Second eye exam at 3 years old
- Prior to starting elementary school, 5-6 years old
If your child has any pediatric risk factors, wears glasses or contact lenses, or needs vision therapy, our eye doctor will provide personalized guidelines about when to book follow-up eye exams in our Louisville optometry office.
What happens during an eye exam for kids?
Our eye doctor will consider a number of factors, such as your child’s age, stage of development, and risk factors in order to custom-design your Louisville pediatric eye exam.
Risk factors that are important to tell us about:
- Premature birth
- Past eye injury
- Family history of eye disease
- Systemic disease
- Medications
The first thing we will check is visual acuity – checking for nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. The results from this basic vision testing help us to determine if your child needs eyeglasses or contact lenses and the precise vision prescription.
Next we will assess functional vision skills, such as:
- Eye Teaming/Binocular vision: how the eyes work together
- Focusing/Accommodation: the ability to switch focus smoothly between near and far
- Tracking skills
- Peripheral (side) vision
- Hand-eye coordination
- Color vision
The results of this testing can be used to diagnose conditions such as lazy eye (amblyopia), strabismus, convergence insufficiency. These common pediatric vision conditions often require vision therapy as treatment.
In addition to the above vision tests, we will also examine your child’s ocular health. Our eye doctor will inspect the inner eye tissues. When necessary, we may apply dilating eye drops to see a more detailed view of the optic nerve and retinal tissues.
Warning Signs to Book an Immediate Eye Exam
Being proactive goes far towards caring for your child’s clear and lasting vision! It also helps protect your child from unnecessary struggles with learning. The following symptoms may be signs of an untreated vision condition. If you notice any of them, we encourage you to book a pediatric eye exam in Louisville as soon as possible.
- Squinting, or closing one eye to see
- Inability to hold a steady gaze
- Head tilting or turning
- Frequent eye rubbing
- Excessive blinking
- Poor tracking skills
- Short attention span
- Wandering eye, or crossed eyes
- Droopy eyelid
- Avoidance of reading
After Our Eye Exam for Children in Louisville
Our eye doctor will discuss all of the results with you in order to design the most suitable vision treatment, if necessary. We will take your kid’s vision condition and lifestyle preferences into consideration when recommending the best treatment.
We invite you to bring all your children for a pediatric eye exam in our warm and welcoming eye care offices in Louisville! Call today to book your appointment.
