Myopia Management

 

Myopia is getting increasingly common and is developing at earlier ages. While the blurred vision caused by myopia can be made clearer with glasses or contact lenses, all degrees of myopia put the eye at greater risk of cataracts, glaucoma and retinal disease later in life. The best chance to reduce these risks is during childhood. 

The World Council of Optometry recommends Myopia Management as the standard of care for all young myopes.

As a parent, caregiver or patient, you should be offered options to slow down the progression of myopia. Your eye care provider should evaluate your child’s risk of myopia development and discuss the latest treatments to slow or even halt progression.

What causes Myopia?

Various lifestyle, environmental and genetic factors are associated with myopia, including: 

  • Near Work – visually demanding tasks like reading, computer work and writing. What the time doing near work and also how close children are when reading or working on screens.

  • Urbanisation – children who spend more time indoors are more susceptible. It’s recommended children spend 2 hours outdoors each day.

  • Hereditary/genetic causes – parents with myopia are more likely to pass the condition on to their children. If you’re myopic yourself, ideally book your children in for an eye examination before you think they might have trouble with their vision.

What if your child has myopiA?

Your eyecare provider should be offering myopia management, also known as myopia control. This is a proactive approach - rather than just simply correcting it with glasses to make vision clearer, myopia management helps reduce the rate of progression, the development of high myopia and the risk of eye disease later in life.  

Treatments include: 

  • Daily Disposable Myopia Management Contact Lenses including MiSight® Contact Lenses and Naturalvue Contact Lenses. 

  • Orthokeratology – Also known as OrthoK, these are specially designed contact lenses that are worn at night. 

  • Atropine Therapy – Low dose prescription atropine eye drops 

  • Specialised Myopia Management Glasses– including Zeiss MyoCare®, Essilor Stellest™ and Hoya MiyoSmart®, to reduce myopia progression. Protecting your child’s eyes

Want to know more?

Many of CCLS optometrists and ophthalmologists specialise in Myopia Management. You can find one in your local area here

Additional recommended resources include