Take Control of Your Child’s Vision Development
Myopia, a common condition, can affect your child’s vision throughout their life.
We offer various strategies to help your child manage their myopia. We can provide all the necessary details so you and your child understand their vision and eye care needs. By taking control of your child’s myopia progression today, we can help preserve their vision into the future.
Book an appointment for myopia control and learn more about how we can support your child’s vision.
What Is Myopia?
Nearsightedness, also known as myopia, is a common refractive error that affects how well your child can see when they look at things that are far away.
It occurs when light fails to focus properly on the retina due to an eyeball that is too long or a cornea that is too curved.
This condition typically develops during childhood and can be managed to slow its progression.
What Happens If Myopia Continues to Progress?
By 2050, it is projected that almost half of the global population will be affected by myopia to some extent.
To address myopia, it is important to get help managing it before it starts to progress. The longer myopia progresses, the higher the likelihood of it developing into high myopia, which can seriously affect your child’s vision and eye health.
Taking proactive measures in the early stages of myopia development can help mitigate its impact and safeguard long-term eye health.
Untreated high myopia can lead to severe complications in adulthood, increasing the susceptibility to specific eye diseases and conditions such as:
- Cataracts
- Retinal detachment
- Myopic macular degeneration
- Glaucoma
When Is It Time for Myopia Control?
When Grades Are Slipping At School
Untreated vision issues can have a negative impact on a child’s performance at school. Research suggests that children with nearsightedness are prone to facing difficulties at school.
When Kids Experience Eye Strain & Headaches
Nearsightedness can cause various additional problems, such as eye strain and headaches. Early intervention and treatment for myopia are essential for limiting the additional issues it can cause.
When Kids Avoid Certain Tasks & Activities
Research suggests that children with myopia often face challenges participating in outdoor activities like sports. Spending too much time indoors can also increase a child’s risk of being affected by myopia progression.
How Vision & Learning Are Connected
Undiagnosed vision problems can significantly impact a child’s academic performance and daily activities, including reading, sports, and participation in class. Such issues can cause stress, confusion, and, ultimately, a decline in academic progress.
Professional care and treatment options like corrective lenses or ortho-k can help address these problems and enable your child to excel both academically and non-academically, resulting in an improved quality of life.
Exploring the Signs & Symptoms of Myopia
Some common signs and symptoms of myopia can include:
- Eye strain
- Blurry vision when looking at faraway objects
- Headaches
- Squinting to see distant objects, like a whiteboard
If you notice your kids experiencing these symptoms, our team can help through comprehensive eye exams to determine if myopia control methods such as ortho-k and MiSight can help.
How We Manage Myopia
Myopia control focuses on slowing down the irregular growth of the eye that can worsen a child’s prescription as they grow.
Myopia control methods work by signalling to the eye to stop growing longer. We can walk you through the most suitable options for your child when they visit us for their eye exam.
Orthokeratology contact lenses, also known as ortho-k, are worn by children overnight to temporarily reshape their corneas and manage the progression of myopia.
Ortho-k lenses are particularly helpful for children who engage in physical activities such as sports, as they can participate without concerns about breaking or losing their glasses. Ortho-k lenses offer a great option for managing mild to moderate myopia in children.
After waking up, your children can remove the lenses and enjoy clear vision throughout the day.
Using atropine eye drops in low doses every day can help to slow the progression of myopia.
Low-dose atropine drops help by suppressing the eye’s growth to slow the progression of myopia. However, we may also recommend contact lenses or eyeglasses to help your child achieve clear vision during their treatment.
MiSight daily contacts are specifically designed for children aged 8–12 who have nearsightedness. Studies have shown that MiSight lenses slow the progression of myopia by an average of 59%.
These contacts alter the way light focuses on the retina, which helps send a signal to the eye to slow its growth and control the progression of myopia. This process helps to slow down the elongation of the eye and prevent the progression of myopia. The lenses contain a special “dual-focus” design, providing clear vision for distant and near objects.
ACUVUE Abiliti Soft Contacts are known for their comfort, featuring breathable material that helps keep eyes feeling fresh and hydrated all day long.
ACUVUE Abiliti soft contacts manage myopia by changing how light focuses on the retina so it can signal the eye to slow its growth and reduce myopia progression.
ZEISS MyoCare eyeglass lenses use a small area of clarity in the centre of the lens combined with myopic defocus on the lens’ periphery to change how light focuses on the retina and manage the progression of myopia.
ZEISS MyoCare lenses are crafted from high-quality materials with your comfort in mind. These lenses feature 2 unique designs customized for patients and cater to a broad range of patient needs, both in single-vision and progressive options.
Take Our Myopia Quiz
Need more clarity? Take our myopia quiz down below.
We’re Ready to Help
We’re here to help your child succeed and to preserve their long-term vision. Book your child’s eye exam today.