One of the most common issues for parents of young children to face is how to go about correcting the vision of their children. While some children are fortunate enough to have naturally perfect – or near perfect – vision, the majority of people can benefit from some form of corrective vision. And, these days, there are three main ways to correct imperfect natural vision: glasses, contact lenses, and surgical correction. So which of these three methods is best for your child? Ultimately, this depends largely on your situation and that of your child, but here are a few general guidelines, pros and cons for each method of corrective vision.
Glasses
Eyeglasses are perhaps the easiest means of correcting vision in a young child. Generally, all that is required is a single appointment with an eye doctor, after which you and your child can pick out a frame. Then your child will soon have his or her own pair of glasses to help with perfect vision. As far as simplicity and vision alone go, glasses are a perfect option. However, they can also hold some children back in certain ways. If your child is particularly active, or prone to losing or breaking things, glasses may not be ideal, as they are easy to break or lose, and difficult to play sports or be particularly active in.
Contact Lenses
Some parents worry that contact lenses can be difficult to handle for young children, and indeed in some cases this is true. However, contact lens companies like Acuvue now offer a wide variety of different lenses designed for comfort, as well as to correct specific vision problems. The drawback is that some young children are not responsible enough with cleaning and caring for contact lenses. However, if your child is responsible and comfortable in contact lenses, they may offer the most convenient means of correcting vision, as they offer improvement in sight without any of the physical limitations of glasses.
Corrective Surgery
Finally, there is corrective surgery, such as permanent lens implants or LASIK, which are becoming more and more popular each year. While these means of corrective vision provide the most natural feeling corrections, and are becoming increasingly safe and reliable, they are generally not recommended for children. One reason for this is that your children’s eyes may still be developing, and performing corrective surgery on underdeveloped eyes can be a bad idea. That said, younger people are having success with eye surgeries, so when your children reach more physically mature ages this is something they can consider.
