What is Myopia?

Myopia is a condition in which the eyeball elongates causing blurry vision in the distance, commonly known as near-sightedness. This is frequently “corrected” with spectacles or soft disposable contact lenses. The prevalence of myopia has dramatically increased worldwide and is expected to affect 50% of the entire population by 2050. ^[1]

There are genetic and environmental factors which increases the risk of myopia and its progression. This includes having myopic parents, increased near work and spending less time outdoors. ^[2]

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What is Myopia Control?

Myopia control is a term used to describe treatments with the aim of slowing the progression of myopia or near-sightedness in children.

Unfortunately, myopia cannot be cured, but we can help reduce the rate of progression. There has been a lot of research to investigate treatment options and many alternatives have been found to reduce myopic progression compared to simple single vision glasses.

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Why is Myopia Control important?

Myopia control is extremely important as short sightedness can worsen very quickly without any intervention, hence increasing the chances of myopia related eye diseases. ANY DEGREE OF MYOPIA INCREASES THE RISK OF DEVELOPING SIGHT-THREATENING EYE DISEASES such as glaucoma, retinal detachment, myopic maculopathy and more. ^{[1] [2]}

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Orthokeratology (Ortho-K)

Ortho-K is short for orthokeratology. Ortho-K lenses are rigid gas permeable lenses that are worn during sleep to help control myopic progression. Ortho-K is a non-invasive, non-surgical and fully reversible procedure. They have been around for many years and there is a lot of robust research (meta-analysis) validating the efficacy of Ortho-K for myopia control. Ortho-K is FDA approved for correcting up to -6 dioptres of myopia. It is carefully designed so that the lens reshapes the front of the eye, correcting for your child’s prescription and allowing them to see without any glasses or contacts during the day. Yes! Clear vision WITHOUT glasses or contact lenses during the day! ^[1][2]

Please visit Ortho-K Strathfield for more information on Ortho-K.

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How does Myopia Control reduce Myopic Progression?

Many myopia control options utilise the peripheral defocus of light to minimise the stimulus for the eyes to grow and become even more shortsighted. Regular glasses and contact lenses bring the image into sharp focus at the fovea (central point on the retina or the back of the eye), however the image in the periphery of the retina (peripheral view) is focussed further behind the retina which stimulates the growth of the eyeball. This growth results in myopic progression. Myopia control treatments brings this undesired peripheral defocus in front of the retina, an effect that has been proven to slow the elongation of the eyeball, thus slowing myopic progression.

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Multifocal contact lenses

Multifocal contact lenses are soft contact lenses which are worn during the day. They have concentric rings of reduced power around the centre of the lens which has proven to slow myopic progression. There are many types of lenses available and multifocal contact lenses can support a wide range of prescriptions.

MiSight® 1 day lenses are an example of soft contact lenses that have been proven to be effective in myopia control. MiSight® 1 day lenses have been DFA approved and clinically proven to slow the progression of myopia (nearsightedness or short-sightedness) when initially prescribed for children 8-12 years old when compared to the children in the control group wearing a single vision 1-day contact lens.^[1]

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Specialised spectacle lenses

If contact lenses are not suitable for various reasons, there are various types of spectacle lenses that are designed to slow down the progression of myopia by up to 60%.^[1]

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Atropine eye drops

Atropine eye drops can also be used to reduce the progression of myopia. It can be used as a monotherapy with multifocal glasses or contact lenses, or in combination with other myopia control options for better efficacy.^[1]

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