Children’s Eye Exams
Children’s annual eye examinations are covered by Alberta Health Care until their 19th birthday.
80% of learning is visual so be sure your kids are seeing their best! Even if your child has 20/20 vision they may not have all the visual skills required for proper visual recognition and learning. An eye exam with our doctors of optometry will determine if your child’s eyes are functioning to their full potential.
A child’s first eye exam is recommended at the age of 6 months and every year after. Even though infants are unable to describe their vision or recognize the alphabet our doctors can determine how their eyes are focusing by doing a procedure called retinoscopy. This is a very quick and non-invasive procedure where the doctor will shine a light into the child’s eye and by evaluating the shape and motion of that light they can determine if the child needs glasses.
During your child’s exam the doctor will look for potential problems that could prevent your child from seeing well. The most common problems encountered with children are:
- Nearsightedness (myopia) is when we see things well that are near but not things that are far.
- Farsightedness (hyperopia) is when we see things well that are far but not things that are near.
- Astigmatism is usually caused by an irregular shape to the cornea. Instead of the cornea being spherical it is more egg or football shaped. This results in distortion of the vision at all distances.
- Lazy eye (amblyopia) is when one eye does not see as well as the other eye, sometimes even with glasses. If this is caught at an early age, ideally before the age of 6, it can often times be corrected.
- Eye turn (strabismus) is when one or both eyes turns in, out, up or down when trying to look straight ahead. If uncorrected at an early age this can lead to amblyopia.
To request an appointment please call us,
or click the image below.
*For eye emergencies outside of business hours
please proceed to the nearest Emergency Room.
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