Child with Headaches? Glasses not the Solution.

Your child is getting frequent headaches?  Especially while they’re working on homework?  Looks like they need eye glasses – right?

Actually, probably not.

Earlier this month, a study was presented at the 116th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.  The records of 158 children were reviewed who had come to the ophthalmologist because they had frequent headaches.

All the children were given an eye exam.

Most of the children did not have problems with eyesight (problems that had not already been corrected – some did wear glasses).  About 14% said that they had headaches when doing homework and other visual tasks.  But a need for vision correction was not the primary cause of the headaches – in ANY of the cases!

Researchers noted that for most of these children the headaches did lessen over time – but getting dealing with vision problems did not mean they were any more likely to resolve.

The take-away?  If your child is having frequent headaches, it’s very unlikely that vision problems are the issue.  Of course, your child should have regular check ups for eyesight.  But don’t wait for new glasses to deal with headache problems.

If your child has frequent headaches, it’s not normal.  Take your child to a doctor right away.  If your doctor brushes it off as nothing, seriously consider a specialist.  The earlier you can catch headache problems, and treat them, teh better.

via Children’s Headaches Rarely Indicate a Need for Eyeglasses, Study Finds