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  • Sudbury Hours: Mon - Fri 10:00-5:30PM
  • Espanola Hours: Mon - Fri 10:00-5:30PM
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(705) 522-1292
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(705) 869-2030
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Children’s Eye Exams

Children’s Eye Exams

EYE EXAMINATION

CHILDREN'S EYE EXAM

Clear vision plays a vital role in your child’s development, so it is essential for you to ensure that your child’s eyes are healthy.

To help safeguard your child’s sight, parents and caregivers should ensure that children have their eyes examined at least once per year. At Bell Booth Sirkka, we pride ourselves on keeping our wait times for eye exams short, making it easy for you to get the care your child needs when they need it.

Is your child due for an eye exam? Book their next appointment today.

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A Family Oriented Office

SINCE 1962

We provide comprehensive eye examinations, advanced treatment plans and personalized eyewear solutions for all ages.

During a pediatric eye examination, our optometrists assess vision, muscle control, and eye health, all while helping your child feel comfortable and calm. Because children do not necessarily have the verbal skills to communicate what they are seeing or how well they see it, our optometrists employ examination techniques that provide us with the information we need non-verbally.

Children’s Eye Exam Schedule

Children should undergo their first eye examination at six months of age and annually thereafter. Visual abilities play a key role in early development, and early detection and treatment of eye conditions can significantly decrease lifelong vision impairment.

Eye examinations for children and young adults 19 years of age and under are covered by OHIP.

Signs of Vision Problems

Young children, in particular, are not always able to effectively communicate when something is wrong. That is why it is up to parents and caregivers to look for signs of vision problems in their children. If your child is having difficulties with their sight, it is critical that these issues be identified and treated as soon as possible.

Early detection and treatment can help safeguard your child’s vision and prevent permanent vision loss that could hamper your child’s development and affect their ability to learn.

If you suspect that your child may be suffering from vision problems, you should book an appointment with an optometrist as soon as possible.

Your child may be experiencing problems with their vision if they:

  • Squint a lot
  • Rub their eyes frequently
  • Sit very close to the television
  • Avoid close up activities such as reading
  • Often lose their place while reading
  • Need to use their finger as a guide while reading
  • Hold reading material too close to their face
  • Complain of frequent headaches
  • Complain of double vision
  • Cover one eye while looking at things
  • Frequently tilt their head to one side
  • Have a misaligned eye

Common Vision Problems in Children

Amblyopia

Amblyopia is an eye teaming problem, often referred to as a “lazy eye”. When the brain receives two different images from each eye rather than one unified image, the brain attempts to simplify the process and begins to ignore the signals from one eye.  This causes poor development within the vision processing unit in the brain.

We carry Shaw lenses: a speciality lens designed to help correct certain types of amblyopia. The use of Shaw lenses improves eye teaming, when compared to patching therapy, and also eliminates the embarrassment or anxiety of wearing an eye patch.

Strabismus

Strabismus is a misalignment of the eyes, causing one eye to point upward, downward, outward, or inward while the other points forward. This problem occurs due to uneven tension in the eye muscles or a neurological issue. Strabismus may develop into amblyopia if left untreated.

Myopia

More commonly known as nearsightedness, myopia is a refractive error that is becoming more common among children. When the eyeball is too long in relation to the curvature of the cornea, it causes light to focus on a point in front of the retina, rather than directly on it. As a result, the child cannot see distant objects clearly.