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What is Myopia Control / Management?

Myopia or nearsightedness is when your distance vision is blurry and your near vision is clear.  Vision is very important in a child’s learning and development, however, the prevalence of myopia progression in children is becoming a world-wide problem. The World Health Organization estimates that by 2050, up to 50% of the world’s population will have myopia.

 

Recognizing common myopia symptoms in children can help identify it early.  Children typically do not voice their vision problems because they don’t know what “normal” vision looks like. 

Symptoms of vision related problems include:

  • Frequent squinting 

  • Sitting close to the television and other screens

  • Frequent headaches 

  • Difficulty focusing in school 

  • Holding books close to their face when reading

 

Myopia usually develops early in childhood and worsens with age.  As children grow, so do their eyes, and this growth can cause a mild case of myopia to develop into other more severe eye problems such as retinal detachment or myopic macular degeneration.   Single vision eyeglasses alone can only correct myopia, but they do not slow down myopia progression.

To address the progression of myopia, our clinic is offering new advances in myopia control. 

@180 Optometry takes a proactive approach to treating myopia progression.  Rather than correcting the symptoms of nearsightedness with regular glasses or contacts, new technology allows for these same optical techniques to slow down the rate of myopia change.  The goal of myopia control is to minimize progression until children achieve stable vision.

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Let's change the game on myopia!!  To learn more see my blog post: https://www.180optometry.com/post/stop-the-cat-and-mouse-game

Myopia Control / Management Options

  • MiSight Contact lenses

  • Soft, daily disposable contact lenses that have multiple treatment zones to correct and control myopia progression.

  • Health Canada approved for myopia management.

  • Worn in the morning and discarded at the end of the day, there is no need for your child to clean them each day and therefore decreases the risk of infection.

  • A 3-year study found that MiSight lenses can provide up to a 59% reduction in myopia progression.

  • No initial pain or adaptation period seen with MiSight 1-Day contacts compared to rigid Ortho-K lenses.

  • Abiliti Contact lenses

  • Soft, daily disposable contact lenses that are approved by Health Canada for myopia management.

  • Worn in the morning and discarded at the end of the day, there is no need for your child to clean them each day and therefore decreases the risk of infection.

  • Features RingBoost™ technology, specifically targeted and designed for slowing the progression of myopia in children.

  • Acuvue's study showed a decrease in axial elongation in as little as six months.

  • No initial pain or adaptation period seen with Abiliti 1-Day contacts compared to rigid Ortho-K lenses.

  • NaturalVue Contact lenses

  • Soft, daily disposable contact lenses that uses a pinhole effect to create its extended depth of focus.

  • The contact lens has a center distance zone and from there, a rapid, continuous uninterrupted progression of plus power to control myopia.

  • In a most recent study, 95 percent of the children fitted with NaturalVue lenses showed less than a 0.25D progression of myopia throughout an entire 36-month period.

  • The article, “Case Series Analysis of Myopic Progression Control with a Unique Extended Depth of Focus Multifocal Contact Lens,” was published in Eye and Contact Lens Journal: Science and Clinical Practice in 2018.

  • NaturalVue lenses are primarily used for presbyopia, but has proven to be effective in controlling myopia in children when used OFF-LABEL.

  • Stellest Eyeglass Lenses

  • Manufactured by Essilor using their H.A.L.T (highly aspherical lenslet target) technology to form invisible rings in order to slow down myopia.

  • The H.A.L.T technology is designed to create a volume of signal in front of the retina that slows down the elongation of the eye.

  • In a 2-year study, Stellest lenses slowed down myopia progression by 67%, on average, compared to single vision lenses, when worn 12 hours a day.

  • MiYoSmart Eyeglass Lenses

  • Manufactured by Hoya using their unique D.I.M.S. (Defocus Incorporated Multiple Segment) technology.

  • The front surface of MiYoSmart lenses have multiple small discs of defocus surrounding a central zone of clear, distance prescription correction.

  • In a 2-year study, MiYoSmart lenses slowed down myopia progression by 60% compared to children wearing regular single vision lenses.

  • MyoVision Eyeglass Lenses

  • Manufactured by Carl Zeiss, one of the first lens companies to develop myopia control eyeglass lenses.

  • Has both a single vision lens and a progressive lens design for myopia management.

  • The single vision lens design has a central area for correcting myopia and maintaining clear distance vision while the periphery of the lens corrects hyperopic defocus for myopia control.

  • The progressive lens design has a bottom active zone to support near vision tasks by reducing eyestrain while the top part of the lens provides clear distance vision.

  • Low Dose Atropine Drops

  • Atropine drops are used to relax the eyes’ focusing efforts.

  • Studies have shown that low-dose atropine treatment can reduce myopia progression between 30-50% over 2 years.

  • 0.05% atropine is the optimal concentration for longer-term myopia control.  This low dose must be compounded at the pharmacy and is used OFF-LABEL for myopia management.

  • Low dose atropine eye drops are well tolerated by most children.

  • Parents can consider sunchanger lenses or progressive lenses if common side effects like light sensitivity or loss of near focusing ability is affecting their child’s school work.

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