Myopia is what happens when the eyeball lengthens, resulting in nearsightedness and the need for corrective lenses or glasses. The degree of myopia varies and it happens to around 30% of children and teens. To remedy this, there are specific treatments called myopia control. But what exactly is myopia control? As your locally trusted scleral optometrist, we’re here to help you understand what you need to know about myopia control.
What Is Myopia Control?
“Myopia control” is the term to describe the methods used to prevent the progression of myopia. These measures are usually prescribed by an optometrist or an ophthalmologist. They come in four primary treatments, namely: multifocal contact lenses, atropine eye drops, multifocal eyeglasses, and orthokeratology. These treatments are important because they can help reduce the risk of complications that lead to high myopia, such as cataracts, retinal detachment, glaucoma and even blindness.
Multifocal Contact Lenses
These lenses are designed to provide clear vision for people who have nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, and other refractive errors. These are also designed for people who are experiencing the normal age-related loss of near focusing ability called presbyopia.
Atropine Eye Drops
This is a kind of dry eye treatment that’s commonly used to reduce the pain associated with eye inflammation. It also gives relief from focusing fatigue by dilating the pupil to limit the eye’s ability to automatically change focus. Also called accommodation, the effect it has by atropine eye drops can be counted for its effectiveness in reducing myopia progression in children.
Multifocal Eyeglasses
The eyeglasses work similarly to multifocal contact lenses, which help wearers with presbyopia see clearly. This control treatment can also mildly slow the progression of myopia in children. But some studies show that the progression slowed up to 51 percent in children compared to wearing normal glasses for correction.
Orthokeratology
Orthokeratology, or Ortho-K, are specially designed gas permeable contact lenses worn overnight while sleeping to help reshape the eye’s cornea. This slows down the progression of myopia as well as provides clearer vision during the daytime without the need for lenses or glasses. Some studies found that children wearing ortho-k contact lenses reduced the lengthening of the eyeball by almost 43 percent compared to wearing regular eyeglasses for myopia correction.
Whether you need myopia control or neurolens treatment, trust our team at Lumen Optometric to help you deal with your eye issues. Call us at (626) 921-0199 or reach us online to schedule your appointment.