Myopia Management
Give Your Child Longterm Eye Health
Parent's Corner
Why Myopia Matters
Myopia is an eye disease usually caused by the eye growing too long. This causes the symptom of distance objects appearing blurry. This excess eye growth is believed to be partly due to genetics (myopic kids often have myopic parents), not spending enough time outdoors and excess digital device use (computers, smart phones and tablets).
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The incidence of myopia in children is rising significantly. This is important because myopia increases the risk of serious sight threatening eye diseases such as retinal detachment, glaucoma and cataracts and untreated kids may have very high prescriptions as adults.
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Myopia management aims to slow down, and sometimes stop, your child’s eyes from growing too long and attempts to decrease the chances of acquiring these serious diseases.
Myopia Treatments
Increasing nearsightedness is a common problem. We pinpoint non surgical treatments to help slow this progression. CRT - Corneal Refractive Therapy is a great non-surgical treatment, giving you the freedom to go without daytime glasses or contacts.
Why Not Just Wear Glasses?
Glasses and regular contact lenses only compensate for blurry distance vision and help your child see clearly, but do not treat the underlying cause of myopia — an eye that is too long. Without treatment, myopia usually progresses so your child’s vision will likely deteriorate every year, increasing their risk of other eye diseases.
What Treatments Are There?
There are currently two methods to slow or stop the progression of childhood myopia. The first uses specially designed contact lenses. These may be worn at night or during the day and are custom fit for your child’s eyes. The second method is a prescription eye drop that is formulated specifically for controlling myopia. Your doctor will recommend the best treatment based on an assessment of your child’s medical history and lifestyle needs.
What Is Orthokeratology?
Orthokeratology, or Ortho-K, is a type of contact lens that helps treat myopia progression. These oxygen permeable contact lenses are only worn at night to shape eyes in a manner to prevent them from getting longer, i.e., more myopic. They also allow the child to see during the daytime without any other contact lenses or eyeglasses.
Real Results
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The March 2015 issue of Nature, the weekly international journal of science, has an excellent summary of myopia rates and why they are growing globally. This article looks at the roles of genetics, ethnicity, near work including screen time and outdoor time on how children’s eyes develop.
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More outdoor time may reduce the risk of myopia in children. So it is critical to try to get your kids outside, especially if there is a family history of myopia. This American Academy of Ophthalmology article summarizes some of the research on outdoor time and provides links to several studies.
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The National Institutes of Health published a landmark study in 2015 confirming an alarming increase in the rate of myopia amongst children in the U.S.
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The World Health Organization in 2019 released a Vision Report in 2019 specifically calling out the increase in myopia globally as a significant public health issue requiring more resources to address.
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Myopia incidence and lifestyle changes among school children during the COVID-19 pandemic: a population-based prospective study
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In 2019, the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) created the Task Force on Myopia in recognition of the substantial global increases in myopia prevalence and its associated complications
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New York Times article on why nearsightedness is on the rise in children.
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The Pandemic Made Kids’ Eyesight Worse, Doctors Say in a 2021 Wall Street Journal article.
