Myopia Management

What is myopia?

Myopia is the medical term for short-sightedness, which means that objects are blurrier the further away from you they are. This is usually due to the eye growing too long (most common, particularly during childhood) or the eye being too curved (less common)

While you can develop myopia at any age, it is most common to develop it during childhood and myopia progresses until fully grown (25-35yo). Symptoms to look out for in children include:

• Complains of far away objects being hard to see (eg. Signs from the car, the board at school)
• Tries to sit closer to the TV
• Squinting eyes when looking at things
• Complaints of tired eyes or headaches
• Difficulties keeping up at school or paying attention in the classroom

What causes myopia?

• Genetics
  • If other family members are myopic, this greatly increasing your chance of being myopic
  • Certain ethnicities have a higher prevalence of myopia, including mainland and southeast Asia
• Indoor/Outdoor time
  • Spending at least two hours in the sunlight each day decreases your chance of developing myopia and helps to slow development if you have it
• Near work
  • While it is inconclusive whether near work itself directly cause myopia, doing prolonged and sustained near work has been shown to make myopia progress more rapidly and vision to worsen

Can you cure myopia?

While there are many options to correct the blurry vision caused by myopia, such as spectacles, contact lenses, and laser surgery; there is no true cure to myopia. However, as eye growth happens as we grow up from childhood, if caught early there are treatment to slow or stop progression. This not only means that kids vision wont be as blurry as they grow up, but reduces the risk of eye health complications later in life. 

Myopia Management options include:

• Special contact lenses
  • Soft lenses that are worn 5-7 days a week
  • Hard lenses that are worn overnight
• Spectacles
  • Certain speciality lens designs are available in your glasses (eg. Stellest, MyoStock, MiyoSmart)
• Eye drops
  • Atropine concentrations (compounded to your needs)

Which option is best? All of these options have proven to be robust management strategies in large clinical trials, however every eye is different, and we will work with you and your child to find the strategy that works the best for them.

 

FAQ on Myopia and Myopia control

Is myopia harmful to the eyes?

As the most common cause of myopia is from the eye growing too long, this leaves the eye at greater risk of many conditions such as retinal detachment and maculopthy due to the stretching of the inner layers of the eye.

Can kids really wear contact lenses?

Yes! Kids are generally good candidates for contact lenses and have even been shown to do better than adults at lens care in studies. Myopia control also comes in daily disposable lenses now, which further reduces any risk of complications.

Does wearing glasses make vision worse?

This is a common misconception as most people start wearing glasses around the same time their condition is most likely to progress, but this occurs with or without glasses. For children in particular, correction of vision is important for their success in school and for those with myopia allows them to see the board and concentrate in class.