One universal truth to count on in this world: Most parents will do anything to protect their child.
The clock starts from that first moment in the hospital when a parent holds their newborn in their arms, as they look on with wonder mixed with a real dose of fear on how they will care for this tiny, perfect human being. A primal alarm sounds then, reminding a parent of their life’s mission: to move heaven and earth to make sure their child will be safe from that vulnerable moment at birth until an implausible day eighteen years in the future when that tiny being grows into a young adult, ready to venture into the world on their own.
Investments Today Pay Dividends Tomorrow
Sometimes, it starts with what might seem like small investments today to pay dividends of safeguards in the future. Applying sunscreen before a five-year-old’s swim lesson to prevent sunburn today and to reduce the risk of skin cancer tomorrow. Scouring reviews to find the safest scooter helmet when their child reaches second grade and then doing the entire exercise on repeat when their son or daughter graduates to an electric bike in middle school.
Safety net investments continue every single day, whether those investments are of time, finances, or both. And it’s never a sacrifice. Parents invest in their young athletes and dancers with club teams and competitive leagues, driving home late into the night after an away game or competition in another city, with their child, fast asleep in the backseat. Win or lose the game, the investment of supporting their child in their passion is worth it every time.
Parents Will Always Protect Their Own
That same fierce instinct to protect is ever-present in their child’s healthcare. Beyond the regular check-ups, vaccines, and weigh-ins, parents will go the extra mile to make sure their child is meeting their annual milestones.
For those parents whose child is still not verbal by age 2 or is falling behind in their speech and language development by 3 or 4, it’s not a second thought to pull out all the stops to help them. Sometimes that means an out-of-pocket investment of up to $9,000 to cover the cost of evaluations (up to $400), group therapy (up to $100 per hour) and/or individual sessions (up to $200) with a speech language pathologist.1
For children who need allergy intervention, the cost for parents can range from up to $200 for the initial consult, up to $100 per injection, and for a total cost ringing up to $4,000 per year.2
But no matter if they are dedicating more money to their HSA to cover speech therapy, allergy shots, or spending an hour hunting through the pharmacy aisle to find the right allergy medication, parents will always do whatever it takes to protect their own.
Parents Have a Short Window of Time to Protect their Child's Vision7
That mission to protect also holds true when it comes to their child’s vision. Whether a parent is learning about myopia for the first time, or if they wake up each morning to navigate a blurry world, parents want to preserve their child’s sight. This charge is often more acute for those parents who they, themselves, have held steady at -7.00D since fourth grade and don’t want their child to face the same potential complications of retinal tears, glaucoma, or sight-threatening myopic maculopathy.3-6 This is a worry that can resonate deep.
With myopia, parents have a short window of time to help protect their child’s vision and eye health.7 Myopia control treatment can also pay off in other important ways, including helping set up a child for success in the classroom and providing a confidence boost in those formative middle-school years.8,9 No investment is too steep to reach those goals.
As parents, it’s estimated that 90 percent of the time they will ever spend with their son or daughter will occur during the first eighteen years of the child’s life. Every minute, every day, every year that slips by the child will grow and change. The one constant is the parent as protector.
Educate Every Parent About Myopia
As eye care professionals, it can be easy to underestimate a parent’s financial commitment to their child’s myopia treatment. Or other times, the prospect of having the myopia treatment cost discussion with parents may seem daunting for both the provider and staff.
Educate every parent about myopia. They deserve to know. And better to hear from you then take a chance with a less credible source on a social media group. Prescribe treatments that can help slow myopia progression and preserve a child’s vision and eye health now and in the future. Be confident in offering myopia control, knowing that parents will do anything to protect their child, including a safeguard to help their vision.
