For parents of school age children, that Staples commercial of “it’s the most wonderful time of the year back to school sale” comes to mind. As your child prepares for another year, it’s a great time to schedule their annual eye exams.

August is children’s eye health and safety month. As a good rule of thumb, you should have your child’s eyes examined by an eye care professional in their first year of life as an infantSEE exam and then they should have regular eye exams starting around preschool age (three) before the start of each school year. If your child struggles to see, it may inhibit their ability to learn as they head back to school this year. If your child struggles to see, it may inhibit their ability to learn as they head back to school this year.

Through a comprehensive eye exam, the doctors at Bissell Eye Care can help to ensure your child is seeing clearly.

These exams look into the back of the eye for overall eye health but are also able to detect things such as:

• Ptosis (drooping of the eyelid)
• Color deficiency (color blindness)
• Amblyopia (lazy eye)
• Strabismus (cross eyes)

Early detection of vision problems can make a big difference when it comes to your child’s ability to learn. If they aren’t able to clearly see, they will struggle to learn as many people learn by sight.

During last year’s remote and hybrid learning, parents had many things on the plates from juggling work and home life to homeschooling their kids. More frequent digital learning is bound to cause eye strain and some children may not have the opportunity to receive the vision screenings they usually receive in school – often creating a referral point for a comprehensive eye exam. This year it’s more important than ever to have an annual eye exam.

Keeping your children’s eyes safe is another part of maintaining healthy vision. With fall sports practices underway, it’s important to ensure your child has the appropriate eye production. Did you know there are 42,000 sports related eye injuries that occur each year and those eye injuries are the leading cause of vision loss in children? If you have questions as to the proper type of protective eyewear your children should have, please give our office a call at 724-443-6767 or 724-226-0444.

Give your kids the best chance of success this year by scheduling a comprehensive eye exam. Make sure that your children can see clearly. Protecting their ability to see will help them to have the best chance of success as they head back to school this year! As we round the corner toward the end of August, the staff at Bissell Eye Care wish you a safe and productive school year.

About Bissell Eye Care: John D. Bissell, OD owns and operates Bissell Eye Care servicing Northern Pittsburgh and Alle-Kiski Valley regions. With two locations to treat patients, we offer evening and Saturday appointments. Bissell Eye Care provides comprehensive eye examinations for the entire family beginning as early as 6 months, ocular disease detection and treatment, eyeglasses, sunglasses, activewear, contact lenses, and low vision examinations for those with significant vision loss. We accept most types of vision and health insurance plans. For more information, visit bisselleyecare.com or call our Bakerstown Office at 724-443-6767 or Natrona Heights office at 724-226-0444.