Goodbye summer holidays and hello autumn. Hopefully everyone has spent some quality time with their loved ones on a sunny beach somewhere nice and recharged the batteries ready for the autumn.
This time of year also represents an ideal opportunity for our wonderful profession to further improve the vision of school children. I think you know where this is heading. It’s the end of the summer holidays, so let’s encourage parents to consider an eye exam as part of the back-to-school routine.
We all know poor vision can be a barrier to learning and studies show the benefits of contact lens use in young people. But modern life is busy and sometimes it’s about making excuses to ensure important tasks happen, otherwise they can get pushed down the list and forgotten about. So, let’s use going back to school as the excuse to prioritise vision and also as a chance to dispel any myths surrounding contact lens use not being ideal for young people.
As demonstrated by the Achieve study, which compared the effects of contact lens wear and spectacle wear on children’s self-perception, and concluded that contact lenses are a viable alternative mode of correction for children.
In addition, the Clip study compared contact lens fittings between eight to 12-year-old children and 13 to 17-year-old teenagers. The researchers found neither children nor teens experienced any problems related to contact lens wear during the trial. They went on to recommend eye care practitioners should consider offering contact lenses as a treatment option, even for children as young as eight.
So, we have the evidence on our side, now let’s seize the opportunity.
Jonathon Bench, BCLA president
