Any thoughts about my daughter's eye complaint?

Hi: I have a 6 1/2-year-old daughter who is in first grade. Thursday
she told me the vision in her right eye was "smeary" and that it felt
like something was on the inside trying to push out. I immediately made
an appointment with her pediatrician and set up a later appointment
with an ophthalmologist, because four weeks ago she was accidentally
kicked in that eye by a little boy (she was with her father then, who
took her to the emergency dept. where her eye was pronounced fine
despite a red spot on the eye-white (pardon my lack of proper
terminology)). Prior to the Thursday announcement, she had evidenced no
other issues or difficulties with the injured eye, which no longer
showed any visible redness.

Her pediatrician checked both eyes. She could see a bit of residual
inflammation from the injury, but could see nothing else wrong. My
daughter's vision tested at 20/70 in both eyes (interestingly, in the
at-school screening conducted by RNs the previous week, her distance
vision was tested at 20/25 in both eyes). She did advise that she be
checked by the ophthalmologist anyway.

The next day (last Friday) she saw the ophthalmologist (a "grownup"
one, as the pediatric one was not available until after Thanksgiving).
My daughter told him that it felt like she was looking through a "solid
fog." He dilated her and checked out her eyes, also pronounced her
vision 20/70 in both eyes, then said that there was nothing medically
wrong with her eyes (other than the bit of residual inflammation), that
she did not need glasses even, and that if anything she was a bit
FAR-sighted. (She does seem to be able to still see really well at a
distance.)

A little additional information: I started wearing glasses at age 8 and
nearsightedness is quite pronounced in my side of the family. My
daughter is a voracious reader (middle-school level or above) and
spends better than an hour every day reading. She spends very little
time ( ~ 3 hours/week) in front of a TV or computer monitor.

Does any of this make sense? Wouldn't 20/70 vision require glasses?
What about the significant drop from 20/25 to 20/70 in a week? What
about the smeariness/fogginess? I don't want to doubt a long-time
board-certified ophthalmologist in a well-known practice, but his
findings left me with more questions than answers. I'm going to speak
again Monday to her pediatrician, and also to a friend-of-friend
professor of optometry. If it is not her eyes, I wonder about something
neurological or psychosomatic -- any feedback or advice is appreciated
--

Thanks.

In article <(E-Mail Removed) .com>,
(E-Mail Removed) wrote:


> vision 20/70 in both eyes, then said that there was nothing medically
> wrong with her eyes (other than the bit of residual inflammation), that
> she did not need glasses even, and that if anything she was a bit
> FAR-sighted. (She does seem to be able to still see really well at a
> distance.)
>
> A little additional information: I started wearing glasses at age 8 and
> nearsightedness is quite pronounced in my side of the family. My
> daughter is a voracious reader (middle-school level or above) and
> spends better than an hour every day reading. She spends very little
> time ( ~ 3 hours/week) in front of a TV or computer monitor.
>
> Does any of this make sense? Wouldn't 20/70 vision require glasses?


I would think so, but I'm no doctor. Be aware that farsighted people
can need glasses just as much as nearsighted people.

The important thing is whether she can see well enough to do what she
needs. If she is farsighted, and isn't having problems reading, then
glasses are just a hassle.

--
Dan Abel
(E-Mail Removed)
Petaluma, California, USA