Spectacles safer for children than contact lens - Dr Addy
A Senior Ophthalmologist, Dr James A. Addy, has advised children with eye problems not to follow the current trend of wearing contact lens over spectacles because contact lens is for a specific eye condition.
Contact lens is a thin lens placed directly on the surface of the eye.
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Dr Addy, who works with the Eye Care Unit of the Ghana Health Service, said contact lens was prescribed for people who had a serious condition of short sightedness (also known as high myopia-- people who can only see objects very close to the eyes).
Additionally, he said the dry temperature in Ghana made the wearing of contact lenses difficult and the eyes became more prone to infection with contact lenses than spectacles.
He explained that although it was comfortable to wear contact lenses, it might be difficult for children to handle them properly because they were delicate.
For instance, he said, using contact lenses could be very painful when wearing them because it made the eye dry and that required that the person constantly applied an eye solution during the day.
Furthermore, he said wearing contact lenses involved using the hands and children might forget to keep their hands clean or might not know the right thing to do and end up introducing foreign materials into their eyes, causing infections.
These infections, Dr Addy explains, may lead to getting a sore on the eye (corneal ulcer) which may lead to blurred vision.
He said contact lenses were stored in eye solution after taking them out and if the solution was not properly kept, it could lead to eye infections.
The ophthalmologist, therefore, encouraged children who wore spectacles to stick to that and debunked the belief that wearing spectacles for a long time made the eye sink in.
He advised children to have their spectacles changed every two years because the eye changed naturally, and it was important to get new ones that would correct the eye problem as the years went by.
He advised parents and guardians to encourage their children to wear more spectacles since it relaxed the eyes and made users more comfortable when working at night.
In an interview with a JHS Two student, Gloria Afful, she said she felt comfortable wearing spectacles because they were easy to remove anytime she had to apply medicine or take something off her eyes.
Another student, Mary Attila, said she would not have to explain herself to anyone since the spectacles were evidence of her problem.
“The spectacles make people aware I have an eye problem and they treat me as such,” she added.
Abdullai Issifu, a JHS two student, was of the view that the contact lens hid the fact that you had an eye problem. “It prevents the stigma associated with wearing spectacles and makes you feel comfortable,” he said.
Erica Mireku believes that contact lens is much secured and convenient since no one can accidentally break them.
