Why your child needs an eye exam – even if you don’t see anything wrong

It can be hard for parents to stay on top of everything. The list of to-dos is endless. One thing that you shouldn’t push to the side, however, is an eye exam. Your child should see an Optometrist regularly, even if you don’t suspect anything is off. 

To the naked eye, pun intended, it can be difficult to fully assess your child’s eyes and what their vision may be. Children often assume the way they are seeing is how everyone else sees, and they don’t realize there is a problem. You don’t know what you don’t know! Kids merely assume that how they see is normal.

Take, for instance, a recent case by our Optometrist, Dr. Yew.

A three-year-old came in with her parents for a regular eye exam. Her mother thought her daughter's eyes were fine and expected no problems. She didn’t squint, rub her eyes, turn, or eyes, and she was meeting all developmental milestones with flying colours.

EXCEPT…the eye exam showed that her daughter had a lazy right eye and was using her right eye to see everything around her! After letting her parents know, they were shocked! They had no idea that this was happening and were so glad they booked the appointment.

After the exam, Dr. Yew prescribed glasses to be worn full-time and to come in for routine eye exams to monitor the eye.  

When should your child have an eye exam?

After hearing about our recent patient, you might wonder how often your child should have an eye exam. 

The College of Optometrists recommends that your child should have an eye exam at six months to rule out any gross prescription issues or eye disease. After this, your child should have another eye exam by age two and then every year after that visit. 

Thankfully, OHIP covers an annual visit to the eye doctor for Children, 0-19 years of age. For more information on what OHIP covers, you can visit their site here. 

If your child is in JK they may also be covered for glasses under the Eye See Eye Learn program before June 2020. More information on that program here.

Not sure if your child has a problem with their eyes? 

Don’t wait, if your child needs glasses or vision therapy, the earlier you know, the better. Schedule your appointment with Dr. Yew today!

My Prescription for Success

My mom always told me you should remember someone’s name.  With a Rolodex in my head that stretches over the last twenty-three years in business, it is a point of pride that I can still tell you every person’s name that walks into Inspired by Rossland Optical. 

It was Maya Angelou that said, “People don’t always remember what you said, but they remember how you made them feel.” I always want my customers to feel welcome in my store. Let’s back up for a bit, though. First, let me tell you how my journey started.

THE EARLY DAYS

My mom invested in an optical store in 1984, and I started working there in 1986. A pharmacist by trade, my mom always took a different approach to her optical business, and her lessons still stay with me today. She didn’t just look at a person and say, here take this. She looked at their entire history. That’s what a good pharmacist does, and subsequently, that is also what a good optician does too. 

As a young woman, I didn’t see myself in the optical business. So, I went and tried other things. Soon realizing I didn’t know everything and returning to work in the industry. 

In 1994 I went to school to become an optician, but I had already been immersed in the industry since 1986 and had many mentors. One of my mentors was a gentleman who had learned his trade in World War II, and so I learned a lot of old school tips and tricks and craftsmanship from him. My mentors served me well when I opened Rossland Optical in 1996.

THE TECHNICAL SIDE

In this day and age of technology and computers, knowing how to make a pair of glasses by hand is rare, and that does give me an edge on others in the industry. It allows me to be able to solve customer’s problems quickly because I have in-depth knowledge and expertise of how lenses work. For efficiency sake, I do use external lab partners but we are one of the few opticals that can use your old frame and replace the lenses. 

It is easy to get focused on the frames and fashion of eyewear, but the technical aspect is a huge responsibility. If the lenses aren’t correct, it can make the eyes worse or cause other lifestyle concerns like sore necks and headaches. An excellent example of this is drug store readers. For a portion of the population they might be fine, but for the other portion, over-time these can lead to problems. That is why it’s so essential to get glasses that fit correctly and also to have the correct prescription. 

That is not to say that I don’t like the fashion aspect. That is another area of my business that I get a thrill out of. I love helping customers find a new look, whether they are not feeling as confident or merely want a change. There are so many frame options available to suit every person who comes into the store.

A HOLISTIC APPROACH

As a general rule, how I look at my role as an Optician is with a holistic approach. This is very different than most Opticians today. I present eyewear solutions to my customers based on a variety of lifestyle factors and get the entire picture before making any recommendations for their vision. It is not that I need to know every detail of their lives, but it helps me to paint a clear picture of their needs before a personalized solution is presented.

Proper vision is critical to your health and wellness, and it is something that is often overlooked. I work with a lot of seniors, and a loss of vision could mean further isolation to a group that is already more isolated due to health issues. Unfortunately, health care is not as collaborative as it could be, and if there was more collaboration, many eye issues could be addressed early on before they became major problems.

THE FUTURE

Even though I was thrown into the industry at a young age, I still get up every morning and am excited about what I do. I not only enjoy the problem solving and the technical aspect of what I do, but I also love people. I love helping them, and I love helping them feel good in their eyewear. Whether it’s a young child, a mom returning to the workforce, or a senior citizen, for me, it’s a rush. Like a skydiver who would get a rush jumping out of a plane, for me, I get that same rush helping people with their eyewear.

And it’s a good thing I have a fabulous team behind me. One thing I learned a long time ago is that I need to surround myself with people who are skilled at what I am not. I work with a fantastic team that excels in those areas. They are the yin to my yang, and without them, Inspired by Rossland Optical would not be the success it is today. 

What you can expect during and after pregnancy if you wear glasses or contact lenses

Your body goes through many changes when you are pregnant, from weight gain to hair growth to lack of memory and tons more. You can thank all those wonderful hormones. What you may not know is that your vision also changes during pregnancy. Common vision changes during pregnancy include dry eyes, blurred vision, ocular migraines and in rare cases, excess fluid can even cause the retina to detach.  That is why it’s SO important to take care of your eyes during and after pregnancy. Here is our expert advice for mom’s to be and what you can expect during and after pregnancy if you wear glasses or contact lenses.

Contact lens wearers may need to be refit
If you wear contacts when you are pregnant, you may need to get your lenses refit as another pregnancy symptom is corneal changes to your eyes. One option is using daily disposables. Daily disposable lenses can help manage protein build-up that is common when you are expecting.

Glasses might not fit properly due to weight gain
Pregnancy is an uncomfortable time for many moms-to-be because of weight gain. Along with sore and expanding feet, your face shape can also change. It’s best to get your frames adjusted to fit better, so you don’t experience any more discomfort than you need to.

Frames may need an update due to skin changes
Skin tones and colouring may change during pregnancy and what colours and styles worked for you before may not work after the baby has arrived. It’s a good idea to visit your optician after your baby is born to make sure your colouring still works with your current frames. 

Babies are a messy business – if you wear contacts you might be at risk
It can be harder to manage a sanitary environment after you have had a baby. Diaper changing and handling contact lenses can put your contact lenses at risk. It is especially important to wash your hands frequently and clean surfaces that may be contaminated if you are going to be wearing contacts. This way, there is no chance of bacteria getting into your contacts and causing an eye infection or worse.

Growing babies can wreak havoc on your frames
Babies love to grab anything in their reach, including your glasses. While frustrating, little ones are merely curious and glasses look like fun things to play with. That said, it may be necessary to visit the optician more often to adjust your frames and also to maintain the integrity of your frames if your little one has gotten a hold of them. 

Sunglasses are essential when you are out and about with your baby
One thing that all moms can agree on is that getting out of the house when you are caring for a baby is essential for your mental and physical health. Remember, when you are out, you should be wearing proper sunglasses that protect your eyes from harmful UV rays. Babies should also have sunglasses, a hat, sunshade, and age-appropriate sunscreen. 

Once your baby grows up, they may need glasses themselves
It’s hard to think this far ahead if your baby hasn’t arrived yet, but once they have moved through the baby stage, they might need glasses too. If that is the case, it’s good to know that if they entering JK or born in 2015, they eligible for free glasses under the Eye See Eye Learn program. 

Feel free to get in touch with us to learn more about this opportunity and of course, if we can help you with any eye care needs during and after pregnancy we would love to help!