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Myopia Control Treatment

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Myopia Control Treatment

How Can It Benefit Your Child?

With the rise of digital technology and near work, myopia (nearsightedness) has become more common among children. The biggest concern is that it is now starting in children at younger ages, resulting in higher levels of myopia. Here’s why starting myopia control treatment early is a game-changer for their lifelong health and well-being.

In our digital age, near work like reading or screens can lead to myopia, where the eye grows too long, causing difficulty seeing far away. Myopia doesn’t just mean blurry vision – it increases the risk of sight-threatening conditions like retinal tears and glaucoma.

Technology today can measure your child’s eye length, and track its growth as your child grows. Not only can it predict the chance your child may develop myopia, it can also predict how quickly your child’s prescription increases if they are already wearing glasses.

Risk factors for myopia include: having parent(s) with myopia, longer eyes, less than 1.5 hrs/day of outdoor time, >2 hrs/day of near work, thin corneas, and poor eye-teaming.

The Benefits of Myopia Control Treatment

  1. Slowing Progression
    Special glasses, contact lenses, or drops designed for myopia control can reduce the rate of myopia progression by up to 67%, helping your child maintain a lower prescription and healthy eyes.
  2. Future Vision Correction Options
    Slowing myopia progression means your child will have more options for glasses and contact lenses. A lower prescription also means better surgical outcomes with LASIK.
  3. Lower Prescription in Adulthood
    By their 20s, your child could have a much lower prescription than if they had used traditional glasses.
  4. Reducing Risks of Vision-Threatening Diseases
    Maintaining a healthy eye size reduces the risk of sight-threatening disease like retinal detachment, early cataract, glaucoma, and macular disease.

How to Get Started

Step 1: Determine Candidacy

1/3 cases of myopia go undiagnosed in Canada simply because not every child gets their eyes checked. Most times, a child does not know they have myopia since they do not know what is supposed to be normal vision. If we have already recommended myopia control, you’re ready for the next step. If not, schedule an eye exam to see if your child could benefit.

Step 2: Myopia Control Treatment Options
Our doctor will assess your child’s lifestyle and myopia risk profile to determine what type of treatment is best: specialty glasses, contact lenses, medicinal drops, and/or vision therapy.

Step 3: Follow-Up and Monitoring
Every 6 months, we will check if the treatment is working by assessing your child’s prescription and measuring eye growth using advanced tools like the MYAH instrument.

Step 4: Addressing Prescription Changes
Myopia control treatments are expected to slow progression, not stop it entirely. If your child’s prescription continues to increase faster than expected, additional treatments or adjustments may be needed. Typically, 2 out of 3 children do not require a prescription change after the first year of wearing myopia control glasses (i.e. Stellest by Essilor).