Myopia Management: Safeguarding Your Child’s Vision
Does your child struggle to see the board at school or squint when watching TV? These everyday moments may be signs of myopia, also known as nearsightedness.
As you can imagine, clear vision is essential for your child’s development, education, and quality of life, affecting everything from their ability to learn in class to enjoying outdoor play.
While myopia is becoming increasingly common among children, the good news is that with early detection and proactive management, you can help safeguard your child’s vision and set them up for a healthy future.
What is myopia?
Myopia is a vision correction issue that makes it hard to see things far away. It occurs when the eyeball grows too long, or the front part of the eye (called the cornea) is too curved, which causes light to focus in front of the retina at the back of the eye rather than directly on it. Both genetics and environmental factors, like spending too much time on close-up activities or not enough time outdoors, can contribute to myopia.
Recognizing the symptoms of myopia
As children often assume that what they see is ‘normal’, it’s important to be aware of signs they may be struggling to see. If you notice any of the following, it may be time to schedule an eye exam:
- straining their eyes or squinting to see objects in the distance
- frequent headaches
- bringing books or screens very close to see them
- rubbing their eyes excessively
- squinting at the TV or whiteboard at school
The impact of untreated myopia on children
If left unchecked, myopia can deteriorate over time, causing their prescription to become stronger, potentially leading to high myopia later in life. This can significantly increase the risk of serious eye problems that can cause vision loss in adulthood, including:
- glaucoma
- retinal detachment
- macular degeneration
Addressing myopia early can help prevent these complications and protect your child’s vision as they grow.
The importance of children’s eye exams
Regular eye exams are essential in detecting myopia early, particularly since children may not always recognize or communicate vision problems. These comprehensive assessments look at their vision and eye health.
If we find they are near-sighted, we can then discuss myopia management solutions to help protect their vision.
Our myopia management solutions
We offer options that are clinically proven to help slow down the progression of myopia and preserve your child’s eye health:
MiSight® 1 day contact lenses
These innovative daily disposable soft contact lenses are designed specifically for children aged 8-12 with myopia. When worn every day, their patented dual focus design not only corrects their vision like regular contact lenses would but also slows down the rate at which myopia progresses over a sustained period of time. We find that children enjoy the freedom wearing these contact lenses offers for their active lifestyles and readily adapt to them.
Stellest lenses
These advanced glasses lenses feature a unique HALT technology that consists of 1,021 invisible lenslets that control myopia progression by shielding the eyes against elongation, helping to slow it down by 67% on average when worn for 12 hours a day, while also correcting their vision like normal glasses do. They are a convenient option for children from the age of 6-16 who prefer glasses over contact lenses.
Lifestyle tips to manage myopia
Some important lifestyle changes to help protect your child’s eyes from the effects of myopia include encouraging them to spend at least two hours a day outdoors and limiting the time spent on close-up activities, such as reading or using digital devices. It’s also helpful to encourage your child to take screen breaks every 20 minutes to rest their eyes and help them adjust to other focal distances.
Protect your child’s vision
Take the first step to giving your child a brighter future and schedule an eye exam or contact us for more information on myopia management.