Myopia Control
Are your child’s eyes getting worse year after year? Slow down the progression of your child’s nearsightedness.
What is myopia?
Myopia, or nearsightedness, is a condition that causes blurred distance vision. The number of kids with nearsightedness has nearly doubled since the mid-1970s with over 40% of US kids being nearsighted and nearly 90% of kids in Singapore and China. As your child grows several factors influence the growth rate of their eyes. From genetics to near work and screen time to the amount of time spent outdoors, the variables are many.
Should I be concerned about my child’s myopia?
Myopia is a serious health concern and is already the 6th leading cause of blindness. As the eye grows longer not only does the smartboard become more difficult to see but the tissues and nerves inside the eye begin to stretch.
Longer eyes result in a worse vision leading to stronger glasses. Unless something changes the cycle continues.
The need for optical correction is only a small part of the problem.
As myopia progresses your child’s lifetime risk of retinal detachments, glaucoma, cataract, and myopic macular degeneration rise exponentially and the risk of visual impairment even with correction rises along with it.
What can I do about my child’s worsening vision?
There are several ways we now have that can help slow the progression and break the cycle. The simple change (but difficult execution) of reducing near work and screen time and increasing time spent outdoors goes a long way in reducing stress on the visual system that contributes to deteriorating vision. Often times though, even when done consistently, that is not enough.
There are three methods that have been shown to slow the progression of myopia:
Ortho-k
Atropine
Multifocal Soft Contact Lenses
At TMS Eyecare, we care about your child’s future. Cool glasses and contact lenses are not good enough in all cases. We have taken it upon ourselves to get the additional training and education and invested in the equipment needed to provide your child with the best care and most advanced technology available.
