Is it necessary to do mydriasis refraction for children’s vision examination?

Many parents who take their children to the hospital for vision examination for the first time will have such doubts:

Is mydriasis refraction necessary?

Why don’t other people’s children need mydriasis?

Will mydriasis harm my child’s eyes?

In order to answer everyone's questions, we have compiled a professional and comprehensive "Mydriasis Guide" to help you understand it all at once~

1. What is “mydriasis optometry”?

What we usually call "mydriasis optometry" is scientifically called "ciliary muscle paralysis optometry".

Mydriasis optometry refers to the use of drugs to relax the ciliary muscles of the eye, like a spring, so that optometry is more accurate. Dilated pupils are actually just a side effect of ciliary muscle paralysis.

2. Why do children need mydriasis for eye examination?

For adolescent myopia patients, mydriasis refraction is an indispensable step to accurately determine the degree of myopia, especially for children and adolescents under the age of 14.

This is because the ciliary muscles of children and adolescents have stronger adjustment abilities. If during the eye examination, the adjustment is tense or spasmodic, the ciliary muscles cannot completely relax and the extra adjustment will interfere with the eye examination and the degree is likely to be deviant.

At this time, we need to use drugs to relax the ciliary muscle and eliminate its influence on refraction, so as to obtain more objective and accurate eye examination results, and also help doctors to formulate more appropriate glasses prescriptions.

However, glasses prescribed with a deviation in degree will not only fail to correct myopia, but will also aggravate the degree of myopia.

Does mydriasis hurt my eyes?

Many parents are afraid of "mydriasis" because they do not understand the purpose of mydriasis optometry or are influenced by some exaggerated statements. In fact, mydriasis optometry only causes normal short-term stimulation, which can be restored after 6-8 hours and has no side effects.

It should be noted that "mydriasis" should only be performed after examination and medical advice from a professional ophthalmologist. Do not "dilate the pupil" on your own.

Does everyone need to have mydriasis refraction?

Mydriatic optometry is a type of optometry for a specific group of people, mostly suitable for children and teenagers. In order to avoid errors in optometry caused by the eye's ability to adjust, mydriatic optometry is generally applicable to the following situations:

1. Children and adolescents who are undergoing an eye examination for the first time, who may have pseudomyopia, who have unstable vision, or who have esotropia.

2. Other people whose fundus and refractive media examinations are normal but whose vision is poor or those with more complex refractive errors.

What should I pay attention to after mydriasis?

1. If any medicine is accidentally applied to the skin outside the eye, wipe it off immediately to avoid skin absorption.

2. After mydriasis, near vision becomes blurred. Try to avoid using your eyes at close range, such as doing homework, watching TV, playing electronic products, etc.

3. The pupil will expand after dilation. Try to avoid strong light stimulation and wear sunglasses or a sun hat during outdoor activities.

4. During the period of mydriasis, since near vision is blurred, parents should pay attention to watching their children to avoid injuries.

5. Let your child drink plenty of water during medication.

Mydriasis optometry is a scientific diagnostic and treatment measure, not as scary as imagined. Everyone must face mydriasis optometry and do not blindly reject it. After school starts, children use their eyes more and go to qualified medical institutions for regular checkups, and always pay attention to their visual development.

Please refer to the instructions for contraindications or precautions.

Medical science is for reference only

Image: Original, "Handbook on Myopia Prevention and Control for Middle School Students"