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Does Your Child Have Myopia? Send Them Outside!

, Helping Young Patients From All Over CITY 1, With Myopia Management

What Does Vision Therapy Treat?

Myopia, more commonly known as nearsightedness, affects millions of adults and children worldwide. The condition occurs when a person’s eyeball is too long, or the cornea or lens has an irregular shape. It is often hereditary, especially if both parents are nearsighted.

So what does myopia really mean?

Usually, when someone looks at an image, the eye focuses on the image on the surface of the retina. For an individual with myopia, the eye instead focuses on the image in front of the retina. This is what causes them to see blurry images.

Myopia becomes worse over time, most often during childhood and into the adolescent years.

In some cases, it can remain at the same level during early adulthood, but in others, it progresses to medium or high-level myopia as time goes on. This may be noticeable at regular eye exams, if your child’s prescription needs consistently changes to a higher number. The higher the myopia level, the greater chance of more serious complications. There is simply no guarantee to know which outcome a child will experience.

This is why eyecare practitioners like encourage people with nearsightedness to schedule an eye exam every year in order to monitor the condition. The knowledgeable staff at The Myopia Management Center At are here to answer your questions and make sure that your child’s myopia is well cared for and remains under control.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine believes that myopia is becoming a significant matter of public health

Nearly 1 in 10 (9.2%) American children between the ages of 5 and 17 have the condition, and roughly 25% of Americans between the ages of 12 and 54 have it, as well. This is cause for concern because as myopia progresses, the patient has a higher risk of developing other eye conditions and disorders such as cataracts, glaucoma, or retinal detachment. In more severe cases, reduced visual clarity or serious vision loss - even blindness - may occur, which may not be successfully treated by wearing glasses or contacts alone. Some of these conditions may not be detected in childhood, but only in later years. That’s why it’s critical to take action to slow down myopia progression in childhood - the earlier, the better.

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Common Symptoms of Myopia

People with myopia experience poor distance vision and symptoms such as:

  • Blurry vision
  • Headaches from squinting or straining the eyes
  • Struggling while driving, especially during night hours
  • Difficulty reading street signs

Children, in particular, experience other symptoms like:

  • Squinting when reading or watching TV
  • Feeling tired when doing schoolwork or playing sports
  • Headaches from eyestrain

Kids with myopia may compensate for their vision problems by sitting close to a TV or movie screen to see the images better. Often, they might need to sit in the front of the classroom in order to see the teacher and the board more clearly.

Myopia Management

Fortunately, today there are many methods available to manage the condition, both medical and natural, and each patient (or their parents) should decide which type of care is right for them. Often, the best approach is to combine both options for the most successful, long-term results. The earlier this is done, the better off your child will be, especially as they grow into adulthood.

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Going Outdoors Is a Natural Treatment, and It’s Free!

Scientific studies show that children who spend a considerable amount of time indoors watching TV or playing video or computer games are at a significantly higher risk for developing myopia.

One reason is the lack of natural light over the long-term can be detrimental to a person’s eyesight. When our eyes are deprived of natural light, they can become more sensitive when suddenly exposed to it. This is similar to when the lights in a room are off and then suddenly turned back on. When that occurs, we feel pain in our eyes.

The obvious solution? Go outside!

Spending Time Outdoors Is Important for Kids with Myopia

Okay, but how does being outside impact nearsightedness?

The sun’s natural ultraviolet (UV) rays contain vitamin D, which, in limited amounts, can be beneficial for our health. Scientists believe that these UV rays have the ability to change the shape of the sclera (the white part of the eye) and the cornea. Additionally, daytime light is brighter than artificial light, such as the kind generated by light bulbs.

When children with nearsightedness spend time outdoors, their risk of having long-term myopia decreases. A recent study was conducted by the Centre for Ocular Research & Education (CORE) at the University of Waterloo’s School of Optometry and Vision Science. The study showed that children who spend 1 extra hour outdoors each week had a more than 14% decrease of the risk of developing myopia.

Spending time outdoors and exposure to natural light (within limits, of course) allows the eyes to become more used to natural light. This activity counteracts the effects of excessive time indoors. As an added benefit, going outside is completely FREE.

Parents can make being outdoors fun by playing sports, having a picnic or barbeque, going on a hike, doing a puzzle, painting, or whatever other activities your family enjoys. Teachers and youth group leaders can organize camping trips, scavenger hunts, fishing, or some other kind of creative project.

Outdoor time should be a priority just as diet, exercise, and avoiding unhealthy habits and risky behaviors are in a child’s life. Being outdoors, in combination with other types of treatment options, can cause significant improvement for a child’s myopia.

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Additional Corrective Measures for Myopia

Eyeglasses or Contact Lenses

An eye doctor will typically suggest eyeglasses or contact lenses for patients who have nearsightedness. These options work by refocusing light rays on the retina, allowing the person to see the image correctly.

However, it’s important to note that eyeglasses and standard contacts only provide basic vision correction. For those with myopia, these solutions are simply inadequate for slowing down the development of the condition. Even with glasses and basic contact lenses, myopia can continue to advance and additional methods are needed to sufficiently manage it.

Multifocal Contacts

Multifocal lenses contain multiple degrees of lens power so that the patient can easily adjust their focus for different vision needs, such as viewing an image, object, or person up close or from a distance. These types of lenses can slow down myopia progression because of the way light is focused in front of the peripheral retina, which improves vision clarity.

Ortho-K

Orthokeratology, more commonly referred to as Ortho-K, is another option for myopia management. Ortho-K is a set of specially designed lenses, custom fitted for the patient’s eye. Similar to other reshaping techniques like the Gentle Vision Shaping System (GVSS) and Corneal Refractive Therapy (CRT), the patient wears the lenses overnight. The cornea is gently reshaped during sleep. In the morning, the lenses are removed.

Typically, vision is improved throughout the day due to this overnight reshaping therapy. In many cases, the patient may not need to wear glasses or contacts the following day at all. Ortho-K has even been shown to slow down the progression of myopia by an average of 50%.

Atropine Therapy

Low-dose atropine is a somewhat new method for myopia management. This therapy involves a once-a-day application of atropine, usually just 1 drop in each eye.

According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, 90% of children who have atropine therapy show signs of reduced myopia progression.

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How We Can Help

Talk to us today about how we can help your child’s nearsightedness. We treat patients from the CITY 1, CITY 2, CITY 3, and CITY 4 areas with myopia control and other vision needs. and the team of experienced staff at The Myopia Management Center At will customize a treatment plan and answer any questions you may have.

Book an appointment today and let’s get your child on the road to great eye health.

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