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Home » Health » Dealing With Sadness of Eye Refractive Errors in Kenya

Dealing With Sadness of Eye Refractive Errors in Kenya

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Reasons for the rise in the Purchase of Spectacles amongst Young females

Sight is one of the five senses in a human being. Kenyans are willing to spend a lot to have the best vision. Not just for

the known purposes but even for peace of mind and to correct refractive errors. In Kenya, eye specialists are making a

fortune from the rising number

of patients seeking services. Consultation varies from genuine needs of vision assistants to perceived beauty in

wearing spectacles. Refractive errors are vision problems that bring difficulty in a person’s sight. 

It is true beyond reasonable doubt that more females use sight assistants like spectacles than men. Being an eye

specialist, I have had a chance to be around the Nairobi Central business area and Mombasa Central Business area.

In my observation, the fact stands.

According to statistics from Kwale Eye Center an eye center in Magandia, a small Island in Kwale County, more females

visit the facility.

per month than their male counterparts. Statistics for June 2021 show that 433 young females visited the facility

complaining about discomfort and poor eyesight. However, in this number, only 44 cases of the girls were genuine.

Another 133 girls and young women did not show up after the first appointment. I was at the facility in May, numbers

show the rest of the females didn’t need assistance. The list shows the number of the type of glasses prescribed to

patients. 

Photo showing Spectacles

Refractive Errors, Statistic in Graph

Here is a graph of the figures as recorded in June and July 2021;

In the above figure, 80% of the people who came for glasses were females between 14-24 years.

Males were not a dominant character in the reported cases of refraction.  

Could there be a hidden issue in the lower number of male patients?

Types of Refractive Errors

Before I take you through the topic, it is worth explaining the term. In simple terms, refraction is the bending of light as

it passes from one object to another. There are four different types of refractive errors as listed below;


  • Myopia is also called short-sightedness. A condition where far objects look blurry while near objects are clear. Myopia can also be called near-sightedness.
  • Hyperopia is a refractive error where the person with the condition gets a clear vision of far objects compared to closer objects. This condition can also be called farsightedness.
  • Astigmatism is a condition where the front surface of the eye or the lens inside the eye is curved differently in one direction than the other. This condition distorts sight for both near and far objects.
  • Presbyopia is a condition most common with middle age and older adults. Presbyopia is when the person cannot look at objects up close.

Symptoms of Refractive Errors

The most basic symptom of refraction is having blurry visions. However, other symptoms that may be an alarm for a

possible refractive errors include;

  • The troubled focus when reading or looking at a computer telephone and others.
  • Headache
  • Double vision 
  • Misty vision
  • Squinting
  • Poor vision

Cause of Refractive Errors

With the types of refractive errors, it is easy to point out some of the causes of refractive errors in the country. 

As the eyeball plays an important role in human sight, refractive errors may come through it. 

The length of the eyeball determines how a person will see things. For instance, if the eyeball is short the person is

likely to be hyperopia. On the other hand, if the eyeball is long, a case of myopia is expected.

As mentioned earlier, refraction is the bouncing of light from one object to another.

The clear outer layer at the front of the eye (cornea) plays the role of

bouncing light in the eye. Therefore, when the cornea is not rightly curved there will be distortion in the vision as

refraction will be compromised. 

Aging. Aging causes a lens that allows the eye to focus on objects to slowly reduce its ability to focus.

Poor nutrition always eat healthy to live healthily

How do you Treat Refractive Errors? 

There are several proven ways to treat refraction. Eye doctors and specialists can rectify refractive errors in these three

ways; glasses, contact lenses, or carry out surgeries.

  • Glasses are the most common and simplest way to treat refraction. There is a specific type of lens of every disorder. After testing, the doctor will prescribe the right glasses. Here are possible prescriptions;

Bifocal lenses contain two different prescriptions. An upper section allows long distant vision and additional power on the bottom part of the lens to aid in close-up focus. 

Progressive lenses have three prescriptions in one pair of glasses. The three lenses allow you to do close-up work, middle distance, or distant work without the need to change glasses. They are also called multifocal lenses.

Reading lenses are typically for those with presbyopia, the age-related eye condition that causes the eye’s lens to become more rigid over the years, decreasing a person’s near vision. This type of glasses is curved outward in shape, which causes near objects to look clearer. 

Single vision glasses are designed to help people who require correction of farsightedness, near-sightedness, or astigmatism. These eyeglasses have just one optical prescription correction and they distribute focus evenly over the entire surface area of the lens.

  • Contact lenses. These sit on the eyes. The doctor prescribes the best lenses for your problem, puts them on you, and show you safe ways to clean and wear them. 
  • Surgery involves changing the shape of the cornea to help you fix refraction. Eye surgery usually uses laser technology to carry out or the traditional surgery. Your doctor is responsible for prescribing the right surgery and explaining the process. 
Autorefractor

How to clean spectacles

Try not to touch the class when cleaning and all times.

Aman cleaning spectacles.

Here is What You Need to be Cautious about

As mentioned through the statistics on the above graph, more females visit eye specialists per month. There are genuine cases while others are just malingering to win a pair of glasses to boost their beauty (thinking that wearing them will.) 

These cases in most scenarios, come when these females have seen other females wearing them. This could be their peers or a person they saw in a movie. These females get excited and start asking for a pair. The safest way to get a pair of glasses is to complain they can’t see properly. Parents take the responsibility of taking their ailing children to a specialist. Most times, parents do not know that some of their children are raising fake problems. 

Some parents have insurance covers which makes it easy to cater for the expense, while others cough a lot of money for these services. For example, acquiring a pair of refractive error prescribed glasses to treat refraction will cost a person not less than KSH. 15,000 when paying cash. However, the same pair of glasses may cost up to KSH. 30,000 when you are on medical insurance cover. 

But how can a parent be safe?

  • Parents need to understand eye refractive error symptoms.
  • They also need to understand their family eye backgrounds.
  • Trust the specialist and accept the results.
  • Yearly eye checups.

Refractive errors in males are lower compared to that of females. There is also a stereotype that wearing glasses is a females’ thing. So some boys may hide eye complications for fear of what peers will say. That is why you are encouraged to have regular family eye check-ups.

How to handle a Possible Refractive error

However rampant chances of self-implied cases of refractive errors, parents should be keen on their children eyes needs. If a child reports an irritation or any symptoms related to a refractive error, the parents should seek assistance from an eye specialist as soon as possible. 

Women being examined with eye problems.

An ignored genuine refractive error may lead to a retinal detachment which causes blindness. The specialist should be the point of reference. It is wrong to force a doctor to prescribe glasses or contact lenses to utilize your insurance. 

Remember, just like using the medicine. Only use glasses when you must, and prescribed by a qualified practitioner.

What are your experience on the topic, comment below?

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