Most of us have, unfortunately, experienced headaches in some shape or form. Sometimes, the headache is due to stress, lack of sleep, or even dehydration. However, when the pain is more severe, comes with other symptoms, and keeps you from doing daily tasks, this is when it may be a migraine. It is very important to understand the differences between the two headaches so you know when you can manage the symptoms at home and when you should seek care from an optometrist near you or another healthcare provider.

What is a Headache?

Headaches are pain or pressure in your head and can occur in the temples, forehead, or the back of your head or neck. Headaches are typically mild or moderate and can often be relieved with rest, hydration, or an over-the-counter medication. Common triggers of headaches are (but are not limited to) stress, eye strain, poor posture, or dehydration.

Even though headaches can be uncomfortable, they are often short-lived and usually do not interfere with daily life. However, if you experience headaches frequently or have severe headaches, you can speak to a health care provider or a headache specialist near you, especially if they are affecting your ability to work or concentrate.

What is a Migraine?

Migraines are more than a bad headache. As a neurological disorder, they can involve intense throbbing pain, usually on one side of your head, and bring nausea, avoidance of light or sound, and sometimes vision changes called “auras.”

A migraine can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days and requires medical attention. Triggers differ—hormones, foods, stress, and even physical and environmental changes—which usually result in a unique treatment plan based on the individual. If your daily life is disrupted by migraines, it may be time to investigate migraine treatment near you to find relief and answer your questions about long-term management.

Migraine vs. Headache Symptoms

When not completely understood, it can be difficult to know when to recognize the difference. Here are some helpful points of understanding about migraine vs. headache symptoms:

• Headaches are usually dull and steady and can be without other symptoms.
• Migraines include intense, throbbing pain and often include nausea, vomiting, light or sound sensitivity, and other symptoms.
• A migraine, among other things, can also include visual changes, such as flashing lights or blind spots, which may signal the need for an optometrist in SW Calgary to check for possible eye strain or vision-related issues.

Knowing these differences can help you determine when you merely have a headache or if you have a migraine that may need more attention.

When to Seek Help

Sometimes headaches and migraines can signal other concerns, like vision problems. Eye strain, for example, can trigger head pain. So if you have a recurring pain that is eye-related, you may want to consider visiting an optometrist. The assessments they provide for eye assessments will look for vision-based issues that could be causing you symptoms and can confirm them or treat them. If you are in pain, and you know it is recurrent, that it is debilitating or has other serious symptoms associated with it (for example, blurry vision, trouble talking, or weakness on one side of your body), please find help immediately.

Acting sooner can save you from one small problem turning into a bigger health issue. It can also make sure that you will get the appropriate and effective treatment for your condition, instead of receiving treatment that simply masks the pain. It is important to keep in mind that your health and comfort are worth your time and effort, and a professional can likely help.

The Important Note: Know the Difference

Knowing the difference between a migraine and a headache is the first step to feeling better. Headaches can be frequent and temporary, but if you leave migraines untreated, you could be living with an impairment to your quality of life.

Get Help with Relief at Eyedeology Optometry

If you are experiencing recurring head pain and are not sure if it is a headache or migraine, Eyedeology Optometry can help. Our team can evaluate if your symptoms can be linked to vision strain or any other problem with the eyes. We will provide eye exams to customized referrals, and we will work with you to find the cause of your pain and how to find relief.

Do not let the migraines or headaches take away your abilities. Call Eyedeology Optometry today to schedule your visit so that you are on your way toward better vision and a healthier, pain-free life.

As published in Calgary’s Child magazine

Dr. Farah Sunderji, OD

When most people think of vision, they picture an eye chart and 20/20 eyesight. But true vision goes beyond clarity – it’s a complex system involving how the eyes move, focus, work together, and how the brain processes what’s seen. If any of these visual skills are underdeveloped, it can impact a child’s learning, sports performance, and more.

At Eyedeology, our vision therapy programs are designed to strengthen the essential visual skills needed for learning and athletic performance.

Why Vision Matters for Learning

Eighty percent of classroom learning is done visually. Skills like reading, writing, paying attention, and copying from the board all rely on how well a child’s eyes coordinate and communicate with the brain. Some kids may struggle with these tasks even if they have 20/20 vision.

Common vision issues affecting learning and sports include:

• Convergence Insufficiency: Difficulty keeping both eyes aligned when focusing on near tasks. This can cause headaches, eye strain, and reduced concentration during reading or homework. In sports, it may affect depth perception and accuracy, making it harder to catch a ball, judge distance, or aim precisely.

• Accommodative Dysfunction: Trouble shifting focus quickly between near and far. This can lead to blurred or double vision, making it hard to follow a fast-moving ball or respond quickly in games.

• Tracking Issues: Poor eye movement control can cause kids to lose their place while reading, skip words, or misread lines on the board. On the field, this affects their ability to anticipate and react to plays, follow an opponent, or judge the ball’s movement with what the eyes see.

These difficulties can make visual activities tiring, reduce focus, and cause frustration or ultimately avoidance of tasks. Often, children with undetected vision issues are misdiagnosed with attention problems or lack of motivation rather than being pinpointed for the correct cause. It is important to recognize these types of visual deficiencies that require more than just glasses or contact lenses to improve.

How Vision Therapy Helps with Learning and Sports Performance

Optometric vision therapy is a personalized, optometrist-guided program that strengthens skills like eye coordination, tracking, focusing, and visual processing. Through fun, interactive activities, skilled optometrists retrain the visual system to work more efficiently.

How Vision Therapy Helps Athletes

Athletes rely on quick judgement of speed, distance, and position, which requires strong visual skills. Sports vision therapy enhances these abilities by training the eyes, brain, and body to work together. It sharpens reaction times, strengthens eye-body brain connection and gives young athletes a competitive edge.

Supporting Calgary Kids’ Visual Health

As your child gears up for a new school year or sports season, it’s important to ensure their visual system is ready. A comprehensive eye exam, combined with a binocular vision assessment, can identify hidden visual problems before they become a barrier to athletic performance.

How to promote healthy visual development at home:

• Encourage outdoor play for at least one hour daily.

• Limit recreational screen time to one hour daily and follow the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, look 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

• Provide a nutritious diet rich in leafy greens and foods. Calgary’s parks and sports programs offer great opportunities to build visual-motor skills naturally through play and movement.

If your child avoids reading, complains of headaches, shows a lack of interest in sports despite trying hard, or struggles with keeping up, a binocular vision exam and visual skills assessment may be the missing link. Many children have perfectly healthy eyes (20/20), but their brains aren’t using the visual information effectively.

We have seen first-hand how vision therapy can reignite a child’s love for learning, boost academic achievement, and restore confidence in sports. When visual skills improve, everything else follows.

To learn more visit eyedeology.ca or schedule an assessment call 587-353-5061 or email [email protected]

As published in Calgary’s Child magazine

Written by Dr. Farrah Sunderji, OD

As you prepare your child’s back-to-school checklist, you want to make sure you have a comprehensive eye examination as part of that list. Did you know that 80 percent of learning is done through vision? Eye exams are just as important as dental visits and annual physicals. As an optometrist, I believe it is important to have your child’s eyes examined to encourage normal vision development and academic achievement.

Statistics show that 1 in 4 children have an undiagnosed vision problem that interferes with learning. A vision screening performed by a child’s paediatrician or primary care physician during a routine checkup or a screening done by a school nurse is not intended to replace a comprehensive eye examination done by an optometrist. A screening is limited and not sufficient to rule out significant visual problems. 40 percent of children who pass a vision screener fail their eye exam because vision is more than being able to see 20/20. Even worse, an eyesight problem can be misdiagnosed as a learning disorder such as dyslexia or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

During eye examinations, I often see children who do not complain of vision problems despite experiencing symptoms. This is not uncommon as children do not know how they are supposed to see. If a child is experiencing blurred vision, they may think everyone sees the same way. If a parent sees well, they often assume their child does, too. To diagnose certain eye issues and prevent them from developing into lifelong vision problems, it is necessary to have your child’s eyes examined yearly.

At what age should a child have their first eye exam?

I recommend children should have their first eye exam at the age of six months during infancy and annually thereafter. The sooner we can see the infant, the sooner we can detect and diagnose any eye conditions that may be present. Treatment outcomes are better when the child is younger. Alberta Health and Wellness covers one comprehensive eye examination per year for children under the age of 18. No referral is needed to visit your optometrist, so I encourage parents to book your child in for their annual eye examination prior to the start of the school year.

A comprehensive eye examination with an optometrist takes into account:

1. The ocular and medical history of the child and their family.

2. The vision potential of each eye. Can your child clearly see the board, books, and computer?

3. The vision skills required for learning:

• Eye focusing. The ability to shift focus from one distance to another; for example, taking notes from the board to a notebook.
• Eye coordination, eye tracking, and depth perception. Ensuring the eyes are working together; for example, reading and tracking with the eyes rather than using a finger.

4. Color vision. If your child is color deficient, it is important to advise the school teacher.

5. Health of the eyes. If you are concerned your child is not able to read or recognize the alphabet during an eye exam, we have pictures, shapes, and symbols they can identify. For infants, we are primarily using our objective findings to ensure the eyes have developed well.

What symptoms should parents/teachers be monitoring for when a child is in school?

It is really important for parents and teachers to be aware and monitor for signs and symptoms a child may be experiencing that could be impacting their learning.

Some of the more common signs include:

• Blurry vision
• Double vision
• Squinting
• Holding material close to the eyes
• Headaches
• Eye strain
• A strabismus (turned eye)
• A head-turn or tilt
• Closing or covering one eye
• Excessive blinking
• Rubbing and/or tearing
• Itching or burning of the eyes

Most parents are unaware of other signs and symptoms that are linked to vision and learning and those include:

• A dislike of near work; for example, Lego, drawing, a short attention span
• Daydreaming during work time
• Skipping words, letters, or lines when reading or taking notes from the board
• Using their head or finger to track when reading instead of their eyes
• Trouble reading, difficulty remembering what they read, or poor comprehension
• Delayed learning of the alphabet
• Persistent letter, number or word reversals; for example, BDPQ
• Problems with laterality
• Not completing assignments on time
• Difficulty with geometric shapes
• Poor hand-eye coordination
• Poor performance in school
• Behavior problems

If your child is experiencing any of these signs/symptoms, you should bring this up with your eye doctor during the eye exam. Treatments such as vision therapy or reading programs may need to be initiated to help with the underlying vision problem. Hence, it is critical for parents to have their children’s eyes checked before starting school to ensure their child has the best start to learning.

What is the Eye See…Eye Learn^® program?

The Eye See… Eye Learn^® program was developed to raise awareness amongst teachers and parents of the importance of having their child’s eyes examined during the Kindergarten year. A form is completed by our optometrist and the results are shared with their family doctor and school. If it is determined a child needs glasses during the Kindergarten year, the child gets a free pair through the program. For more information, visit optometrists.ab.ca/eye-see-eye-learn.

As an optometrist, I want to see children reach their full potential in school. A bright child can perform poorly in school and develop low self-esteem due to poor vision. A comprehensive eye examination will help ensure your child’s eyes are healthy, seeing well, and functioning optimally. Good vision is essential to the learning process. It’s important to have your child’s eyes examined by an optometrist annually to encourage success in school.

Dr. Farrah Sunderji, OD, completed her Optometry degree from the New England College of Optometry followed by a residency in Paediatrics and Vision Therapy. Her practice, Eyedeology, is located at #245, 520 – 3 Avenue SW. For more information on Dr. Farrah Sunderji, OD, and for more information on children’s vision, check out her website, eyedeology.ca.

Myopia, or nearsightedness, is becoming more common in children around the world. It causes distant objects to look blurry while close objects remain clear. If not treated early, it can get worse over time and increase the risk of serious eye problems later in life. That is why many parents are now asking when to start treatment.

If you’re exploring Myopia Control in Calgary, knowing the right age to begin is a big first step.

What Does an Optometrist Say About Age and Myopia Treatment?

If you’re unsure when to begin, talk to an optometrist in Calgary. Eye doctors often recommend starting myopia control as soon as your child is diagnosed.

In most cases, this happens between the ages of 6 and 10. Optometrists use various tools to check for signs of myopia progression. Early visits can help catch myopia before it worsens.

What an optometrist may look for:

• Blurry distance vision
• Squinting while reading or watching TV
• Frequent eye rubbing
• Family history of myopia

What Is the Right Age for Myopia Treatment in Kids?

Many parents wonder about the ideal myopia control treatment age for children. While there is no single “perfect age,” most treatments begin once a child is between 6 and 10 years old. This is usually when myopia starts to develop.

Starting early means:

• Slower progression of myopia
• Fewer long-term eye risks
• Better success with treatment methods like special contact lenses or eye drops

When Should Myopia Control Start in Kids?

So, when to start myopia control in kids? The answer is as early as possible after diagnosis. If your child’s vision is changing quickly, early treatment helps slow it down.

Early signs of myopia include:

• Difficulty seeing the board in school
• Holding books very close
• Headaches or eye strain

Once diagnosed, your optometrist will discuss options like:

• Low-dose atropine drops
• Orthokeratology (Ortho-K) lenses
• Multifocal soft contact lenses

What Is the Best Age for Myopia Management in Children?

Parents often ask about the best age for myopia management in children. Research shows that the earlier the treatment begins, the better the long-term outcomes. Kids aged 6 to 9 usually respond well to most forms of myopia control.

Here’s why early action matters:

• Children’s eyes grow quickly
• Vision can change rapidly during school years
• Early treatment can reduce the final myopia level in adulthood

Why Is Early Myopia Treatment So Important?

Early intervention for childhood myopia prevents vision from getting worse too fast. It can also reduce the risk of serious eye conditions later in life, like retinal detachment or glaucoma.

Benefits of early treatment include:

• Healthier eye growth
• Less need for stronger glasses over time
• Better focus and learning in school

What Are the Age Guidelines for Myopia Control?

Doctors follow general age guidelines for myopia control in children, but each child is unique. Most guidelines suggest beginning treatment when:

• Myopia is first detected (even mild)
• The child is old enough to follow eye care instructions
• The child’s vision is changing quickly

Your optometrist may adjust this based on your child’s eye health, family history, and lifestyle.

What Should Parents Do Next?

If your child is showing signs of myopia or you have concerns, the next step is an eye exam. Talk to your local optometrist about treatment options and timing. Acting early can make a big difference.

Steps to take:

• Book a comprehensive eye exam
• Ask about your child’s risk level
• Explore myopia control options

Final Thoughts

Myopia can affect your child’s learning, play, and future eye health. The right time to begin treatment is often earlier than most parents think. Working with a trusted optometrist ensures you’re making the best decision for your child.

For expert advice and treatment options for your child, visit Eyedeology Optometry in Calgary. Our team offers personalized myopia control plans tailored to your child’s age and needs. Book a Visit With Eyedeology Optometry Today.

FAQs About Myopia Control Treatment Age for Children

1. Can my child outgrow myopia without treatment?

No, myopia usually gets worse over time, especially during childhood and early teen years. Without treatment, their prescription may continue to increase, raising the risk of serious eye issues later in life.

2. Is it safe to use myopia control methods on young children?

Yes, treatments like low-dose atropine drops and specially designed contact lenses are safe for most children. An optometrist will recommend the most suitable method based on your child’s age and comfort.

3. What if my child is older? Can they still start treatment?

Yes, even older children and teens can benefit from starting myopia control. While earlier treatment gives better results, managing myopia at any age can help slow its progression and protect long-term eye health.

4. How do I know if my child’s myopia is progressing too fast?

Signs include needing stronger glasses more often, struggling to see the board at school, or frequent eye strain. Your optometrist will measure changes in vision at each visit to track progression.

Infants can see an eye doctor for the first time at six months of age. The first visit will examine your child’s eyes to ensure they are developing normally and identify any vision issues before they have started to impair learning or development. Even if your child is fine, that first eye exam for children is worth it to preserve your child’s eyes.

When Should Babies Get Eye Exams?

Experts recommend the first eye examination at six months of age. This is the ideal time to verify whether your baby’s eyes are working correctly and developing as they should. While a pediatrician can conduct basic vision screening, it is not a proper substitute for a full eye examination by an optometrist.

After the first visit, children should have additional tests at age 3 and again before they enter school, at age 5 or 6.

What Happens During an Infant Eye Exam?

Infant vision tests are recommended at 6 months of age to monitor vision development and detect any issues early on, making this the ideal infant eye exam age. During the vision test, the optometrist checks:

• How the eyes move and align
• Pupil reaction to light
• Eye alignment
• Overall eye health
• Whether your child needs glasses

These tests are completely harmless and do not hurt at all. Most kids enjoy it, especially if it’s with fun lights or toys to direct their attention.

Why Early Eye Exams are Important in Toddlers and Preschool Children

Kids develop rapidly, as do their eyes. A number of eye issues start before school age but will not necessarily be noticed by teachers or parents. An early eye exam for toddlers will show issues that impact depth perception, hand-eye coordination, and learning.

The child does not even know that they perceive the world in a different way from others. Therefore, they must visit an expert for a checkup as a routine, even if they do not complain so much about their eyesight.

If you’re searching for Children’s Eye Exams near you, choose a clinic that has experience working with kids and knows how to make the process easy and comforting for young patients.

Typical Indications Your Child May Need an Eye Exam Sooner

Even if your child has already had an eye exam, you should book another one if you notice:

• Squinting or frequent blinking
• Rubbing the eyes often
• Poor hand-eye coordination
• Sitting very close to the screens
• Trouble following objects
• Tilting the head while looking

These may be early signs of vision problems, and the sooner they are treated, the better.

How Often Should Children See an Optometrist?

Here is a general timeline to follow:

• 6 months old: First eye exam
• 3 years old: Second eye exam
• Before kindergarten: Third exam
• Every 1–2 years after that

More frequent visits may be needed if your child wears glasses or has an existing eye condition. A trusted optometrist in Calgary can help create a personalized schedule based on your child’s unique needs.

Can Eye Problems in Childhood Be Treated?

Yes. Most childhood vision problems can be improved or fully corrected when found early. Treatments may include:

• Prescription glasses
• Eye patches (for lazy eye)
• Vision therapy
• Eye drops or medication.

A skilled optometrist will help you sort through these choices and collaborate with you to determine what’s best for your child.

The Role of Parents in Eye Health

You can support your child’s vision by:

• Limiting screen time
• Encouraging outdoor play
• Watching for signs of vision issues
• Keeping regular eye exam appointments

Healthy eyes are a key part of learning, reading, and playing. Eye exams are just as important as dental and doctor visits.

Early Eye Exams Set the Foundation for Lifelong Vision Health

Starting eye exams at six months old is a smart step toward protecting your child’s vision. These early visits help detect problems before they interfere with learning, development, or confidence. As your child grows, regular checkups ensure their eyesight continues to support their overall health and success.

By understanding the right timeline and watching for early signs, you can play an active role in your child’s eye health journey.

Book Your Child’s Eye Exam Today

If you’re looking for a reliable and friendly optometrist in Calgary, Eyedeology Optometry is here for your family. We offer professional Children’s Eye Exams in a warm and welcoming environment designed for kids of all ages.

Book your child’s first or next eye exam today and take the first step in protecting their vision for life.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the recommended age for the baby eye test?

A: The initial eye test at six months old is advised even without any indication of vision issues.

Q: How do I determine if my toddler should have an eye exam?

A: Indications include squinting, eye rubbing, coordination issues, or holding objects near. If you see these, get an exam immediately.

Q: Can children get eye exams if they do not even know letters yet?

A: Optometrists use movement, shapes, and lights to test young children who don’t yet know how to read or enunciate.