Everything You Need to Know About Myopia Control

Myopia is a common vision disorder, resulting in near-sightedness. This means that the individual has trouble seeing things far away, where distant objects appear blurry. Unfortunately, this disorder is on the rise, due to lifestyle habits and genetics.

However,  if myopia is diagnosed at an early age, you may be able to control it and keep it from progressing. Here, at EyeQOptique, our team offers information about myopia control and whether or not you should consider it.

Causes of myopia

Myopia is a vision condition in which your eye becomes too elongated for its refractive components, meaning you can’t see things far away because of the shape of your eye.

Myopia is caused by three things: genetics, environment, and lifestyle. If a child’s parents have myopia, their children are more likely to have it. Some people believe that myopia is caused by spending too little time outdoors. Lifestyle factors can also contribute, such as staring at screens.

The condition tends to get worse as you get older. But, if you catch it at a young age, it may be possible to stop or delay the changes.

Symptoms of myopia

If you have myopia, the symptoms may come on gradually and might include:

• Blurred vision when looking at things far away

• Headaches caused by eyestrain

• Squinting or partially closing eyes to try to see things better

• Difficulty seeing while driving a vehicle

For children, you may see the following behaviors:

• Sitting close to the TV, movie screen, or in front of the classroom 

• Squinting

• Rubbing their eyes

• Being unaware of objects in the distance

• Having low grades (if they can’t sit close to the front of the classroom)

If you detect that you or your child may have a vision problem, schedule an appointment for an eye exam with our team at Eye Q Optique right away.

How early prevention can control myopia

Once you’re diagnosed with myopia, you don’t necessarily have to resign yourself to a life in glasses — especially if you catch it early enough.

Treatments may include:

Atropine

Atropine is a prescription medicine that may help slow the progression of myopia. Atropine drops are applied topically to your eye. They are the same drops you get when we dilate your eyes. It is not known how the medicine works to slow the progression of the disorder, but it appears to be effective.

Spending more time outdoors

Spending more time outdoors, especially during your childhood and adolescent years, appears to have a protective effect against developing myopia later in life. Researchers think that the ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun may change the shape of the eye.

Wearing dual focus contact lenses

Dual focus contact lenses are a newer type that can help prevent the progression of myopia. They have different strengths for different areas of the lens of your eyes. Young children need to wear them between the ages of 8-12. This age can be challenging to adapt to wearing contacts, but many children can manage it.

Orthokeratology

Orthokeratolgy is a technology that requires wearing special contact lenses during sleep, which allows a child’s eyes to reshape themselves during the day. We give the patient daily, disposable contact lenses, each in gradually decreasing prescriptions. 

The effect of this technique can work very quickly — in as little as a week. However, children may have difficulty adjusting to wearing contacts.

If you think you or your child might have myopia, contact our friendly office staff at the location nearest you today. We have one in Buffalo Grove and two in Chicago, Illinois.