Can my daughter wear contact lenses after going through a successful strabismus treatment?
DEC 09, 2010
Question:
My daughter was diagnosed at age 5 with strabismus and through patching, her eyesight is now 20/20 in both eyes when wearing her eyeglasses (she is now 8). We are at the last stages of wearing the patch-down to two hours, twice per week. Her eye health appears to be good. She has asked me if she will someday be able to wear contact lenses. Would her previous issue prevent her from that? And, I'm sure it depends on each child but is there a recommended age minimum for contact lenses?
Answer:
Your daughter asks a very frequent question. Since her vision is quite good in both eyes after an apparently very successful treatment, I see no reason why these conditions would prevent her from wearing contact lenses. There are children with amblyopia in whom there is no improvement. For those many ophthalmologists would be concerned about wearing contact lenses for fear of the very small risk from use to the good eye. There is no definite minimum age. Rather the choice is made by the maturity and capability of the child to handle lenses, along with the wishes and experience of the family.