The most volatile years of myopia onset and development are the growing childhood years. This is also the time of intensive schooling. Unfortunately, young children are usually not mindful or responsible enough to take care of their eyes and this is where parents can play a key role. Parents can control the hours of reading,…
Importance of more frequent optometric review in high myopia The highly myopic child is presumed to be genetically predisposed and therefore prone to rapid myopia progression. Therefore, more frequent optometric reviews are recommended here. These visits should be conducted every three to four months instead of half-yearly.The more frequent visits are necessary to ensure that…
Weekend Atropine Eyedrops (1%) Therapy Controls Childhood Myopia The eyes of today’s children have no time to relax. Reading, writing, watching television, using the computer, surfing the internet or playing video games. Not surprisingly, about half of our primary school children are shortsighted. But there’s good news, childhood myopia control can be controlled through atropine…
Spectacles wear is the oldest and still the most popular method of correcting myopia in children. Parents are naturally concerned if glasses should be prescribed for their young children and if so, how strong and how often should they be worn? There is also the fear that constant wearing of spectacles will cause myopia to…
Introduction The prevalence of myopia has escalated remarkably over the past twenty years in Singapore. It is the most common eye problem, which our society faces today. It has been estimated that 40% of our present population is myopic. This compares rather unfavorably with 25% in the United States and 9% in Sweden. With these…
Contrast sensitivity is the ability for a person to detect an object against a background that can be very similar to the object in contrast. A person who has good contrast sensitivity is able to distinguish an object which may be very similar in color or contrast to the background in a dim environment. Testing…
The accommodative facility test is used to examine a person’s focusing ability. Young persons below 40 years of age are able to focus at near objects and then switching focus to a distant object rapidly without losing clear focus. The ability to do this very rapidly while attaining clear vision before moving on the the…
We all have a preferred or dominant eye just as we all have a preferred or dominant hand. In most cases, the dominant eye corresponds with the side of the dominant hand. Thus, if you are right-handed, chances are that your dominant eye is also the right eye. Of course, this is not always true.…
The condition ‘crossed eyes’ is perhaps better known by its medical names ‘squint’ or ‘strabismus’. It occurs when the eyes are not coordinated. When one eye is looking at something, the other eye is looking in a different direction, either turned in towards the nose or looking out. The Light Reflex Test You can do…
This is a test for colour blindness or to use a better but less common term, colour vision deficiency. Most so-called “colour blind” individuals are not truly colour blind but instead have abnormal colour vision. They only have problems distinguishing certain colours and shades of the same colour. They do not see only in black…