Can there be damage to a child's eyes from not getting glasses?

[Pleasant Valley]

my son was 6 years old and was diagnosed that he need to wear glasses. However, he refused. Is there long term harm from not getting children glasses early?

[Wisdom]

There are many reasons a child may need eyeglasses. The most important is normal visual development. If normal two-eye vision does not develop during early childhood, a condition called amblyopia can stop a child's eye from seeing-permanently. This can occur if the eye is seeing a blurry image that's not corrected by glasses. In addition, eyeglasses can assist with alignment of some forms of crossed eyes. I would urge your child to either get the spectacles or get a second opinion with an ophthalmologist if she questions the diagnosis/need for glasses.

[Hooker]

Child needs eyeglasses for several reasons. Some of which are different than for adults, because a child's vision system is still growing and developing, especially during the first 5-6 years of life, glasses may play an important role in ensuring normal development of vision. The main reasons a child may need glasses are to provide better vision, so that a child may function better in his/her environment or to help straighten the eyes when they are crossed or misaligned. To help strengthen the vision of a weak eye (amblyopia or "lazy eye"). This may occur when there is a difference in prescription between the two eyes (anisometropia). For example, one eye may be normal, while the other eye may have a significant need for glasses caused by near-sightedness, far-sightedness or astigmatism. To provide protection for one eye if the other eye has poor vision. Some children may have small refractive errors that do not require glasses, while others may voice concern about difficulties in the classroom. Most children who have difficulty with reading do not need glasses, but this can be determined during a complete eye exam. In those conditions, the child's eye will never gt damage. If your child got amblyopia, where the vision in one eye does not develop normally. Glasses (and sometimes patching or eye drops) are needed to insure that each eye can see clearly.

[Woodbury]

Vision were corrected. More long term effects of not wearing glasses may include incomplete development of the eyes. Getting a clear image to the retina helps the eyes develop, so when vision isn't clear it keeps the eyes from developing normally. When a young person who is nearsighted doesn't wear corrective glasses, she runs the risk of her eyes becoming lazy. When someone who is farsighted doesn't wear glasses, the eyes have to worker harder to focus, often leading to headaches and fatigue. A common complaint from children who are farsighted is that they don't like to read. They'll be able to accommodate their sight to focus on objects but will have long term effects if their vision goes uncorrected.