Myopia is the inability to see things clearly, unless they’re relatively close to your eyes. Commonly referred to as nearsightedness or shortsightedness, myopia is the most common vision issue among children and young adults. Myopia occurs when the eye grows too long from front to back, causing light to come to focus in front of the retina instead of directly on it. Most changes in the eye due to myopia occur from ages 6 to 16, when the eye can start growing out of focus, and usually progresses rapidly. Early intervention with myopia treatment can slow, or even stop, the progression of your child’s myopia.
Glasses only compensate for your child’s blurry distance vision and they do not stop their vision from continuing to deteriorate. Higher levels of myopia significantly increase your child’s risks for serious eye diseases, like retinal disease and glaucoma. Early intervention is key to slowing or even stopping the progression of myopia in your child.
With increasing rates, it is expected that by 2050, 50% of the world’s population will be affected by myopia – this includes approximately 10% of people having the severe form. Childhood myopia rates are also increasing, with 1 in 3 children now affected. That is why we are trying to control myopia and limit the increase as much as possible.
At Airis Eye & Wellness, a comprehensive medical eye exam of the child will be performed to assess the health of the eye. Refraction, axial length and keratometry are the main measures required for professional myopia management. These tests are absolutely contactless and therefore painless through the OCULUS Myopia Master.
Along with the medical assessment of the child’s ocular health, measurements, lifestyle and individual risk factors into account, Dr. Sandhu will customize a treatment plan for each individual child.
In addition, a report for parents will include all results and recommendations. It also helps with reading and understanding the scientific background. The report will be uploaded to the patient portal.
Child myopia is irreversible, but treatments are available that can restore distance vision, such as glasses or contact lenses. It’s important to note that there’s nothing currently available that can promise to STOP myopia progression. The current research and available options can work to SLOW DOWN myopia progression by about a third to a half on average, depending on the option selected and your child’s individual factors. Currently, there are four methods of slowing down myopia: new-to-market Stellest® Lenses by Essilor, atropine drops, MiSight® Lenses, and Paragon CRT Lenses.
These innovative spectacle lenses are clinically proven to slow down myopia progression in children by an average of 67% when worn at least 12 hours a day. Using exclusive H.A.L.T. (Highly Aspherical Lenslet Target) technology, Stellest lenses provide sharp distance vision through a central zone while simultaneously creating a "volume of myopic defocus" that signals the child's eye to slow its elongation. This dual-action approach not only corrects their current vision but also helps protect their long-term ocular health by reducing the risk of high myopia later in life.
One drop per day of low-dose atropine (0.01%) has been shown to be effective in limiting the progression of myopia in several large clinical trials. At this dose, atropine is prescribed “off label.”
Low-dose atropine drops need to be used every day for years to continue curbing the progression of myopia; otherwise, the condition can come back.
MiSight® 1 day soft contact lenses are specifically designed for myopia control and are FDA approved* to slow the progression of myopia in children aged 8-12 at the initiation of treatment.
MiSight® lenses are child-friendly daily disposable contact lenses that uses ActivControlTM Technology to slow the elongation of the eyes. ActivControlTM Technology can simultaneously correct your child’s vision today while training their eyes to resist growing longer.
CRT, or Corneal Refractive Therapy, is a non-surgical option that helps correct nearsightedness without the daytime use of contacts or glasses. These gas-permeable contact lenses temporarily reshape the cornea to reduce refractive errors such as myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism. CRT lenses are worn at night and correct the curvature of the cornea while sleeping so you can see clearly during the day. These lenses are specifically designed to fit the curvature and size of a child’s eye, providing greater myopic control.
CRT ortho-k lenses induces peripheral myopic de-focus, which leads to a decreased stimulus for eye growth and halts myopia progression. In a five-year study of children (ages 8-12 years) fit with ortho-k lenses, myopia progression was almost reduced by half during the first year of treatment compared to children wearing glasses.
