Myopia and options to slow progression
Myopia (short-sightedness or near-sightedness) is a vision problem where far away objects are blurred because the image is focused in front of the retina rather than on the retina. This is usually because the eyeball has grown slightly too long.
As we grow, so too do our eyes, which is why myopia generally develops in childhood and teenage years, with the eyeball growing longer than it should.
There is a genetic component to myopia. Having one parent who is myopic doubles the risk of developing myopia, and having two myopic parents increases the risk by five times.
Also known are “environmental” factors that seem to influence the development of myopia. Some of these are
Time spent indoors vs outdoors – more time outdoors seems to result in less myopia. We recommend at least 2 hours day (14 hours a week) outdoors.
Close-up work – more time on reading and on screens is associated with more myopia. We recommend less than 2 hours a day out of school on screens. Follow the “20/20 rule” - for every 20 minutes of screen time take a 20 second break looking across the room or outside.
If your child is myopic, the likelihood is that it will progress as they grow. For some this is a slow progression, while others have rapid vision changes.
Why do something?
Previously, the standard approach to managing myopia development was simply to prescribe glasses to correct the focus error, then each year update the prescription to stronger glasses as required.
However, having to wear glasses or contact lenses is not the only issue with myopia. The longer eyeball length is a known risk factor for longer term eye health conditions including peripheral retinal disease, glaucoma, cataract and myopic macular degeneration. These are potential sight-threatening conditions and the higher the myopia the higher the risk that they may occur. So it is important to minimise myopia to lower the risks for our next generation.
With a different approach than “just glasses” there is evidence that we can slow the changes in young eyes so their adult myopia is reduced.
What to Do?
The researched options for slowing myopic progression include:
Assessment of near binocular alignment which may benefit from glasses for close work.
Spectacle lenses that provide different optics in the periphery/retinal defocus.
Prescription of low dose nightly eye drops.
Soft daily disposable contact lenses
6 monthly review assessments for children & teens with myopia for progression assessment.
These are individual approaches and we are happy to discuss these further with you.
Useful background information is available at www.mykidsvision.org and www.myopia prevention.org.