Protecting Your Child’s Far Vision

You want the best for your child, and protecting their health is part of that. Children’s eye exams can help protect their sight and their eye health. Regularly visiting an optometrist is crucial for detecting eye conditions impacting their lifelong vision, such as myopia.

Myopia is a leading cause of legal blindness. Moreover, its global prevalence is steadily increasing, with health experts predicting a rise from 27% to 52% by 2050. So what options are available for myopia management? 

What Is Myopia?

Myopia (nearsightedness) is a refractive error causing blurry distance vision. The condition occurs when the eyeball is too long or the cornea (clear front of the eye) is too steeply curved. As a result, when light enters the eye, it can’t effectively reach the retina(light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye).

Myopia can cause various vision and eye health problems, depending on severity. Mild Myopia may cause slightly blurry vision with the ability to complete most daily tasks without corrective lenses. People with moderate to severe myopia have greater difficulty seeing distances, from details on a movie screen to faces across the room.

There are also significant eye health risks associated with higher degrees of myopia. Although the conditions may not develop until a person is over 40 years old, these eye problems can occur earlier—even in childhood. High myopia increases the risk of developing:

• Cataracts
• Glaucoma
• Myopia macular degeneration
• Retinal detachment or tears

As vision develops in childhood, myopia is commonly diagnosed around school age. Vision usually stabilizes around age 20–21when the eyeball stops growing (lengthwise). However, medical conditions or environmental factors can cause vision changes in adulthood, including worsening myopia.

Can Myopia Be Reversed?

Myopia cannot be reversed. Traditional vision correction methods, such as glasses or contact lenses, can enhance vision but do not cure myopia. Adult candidates for refractive eye surgeries, such as LASIK, can experience better vision by reshaping the eye's surface. Although not reversing the condition, vision correction surgery can (in some cases) provide a long-term fix for nearsightedness. However, not all people are candidates for refractive surgeries, partially patients with high myopia or severe astigmatism. The surgery also does not eliminate factors that contribute to myopia development.

Fortunately, there are many methods for slowing myopia progression in children. Myopia control can prevent worsening vision and reduce risks for related eye problems.

Myopia Management

Managing myopia in childhood gives children the best chance of lifelong healthy vision. Regular children’s eye exams are crucial for the early detection of myopia so that children can receive treatment as soon as possible.

Atropine Eye Drops

Optometrists can prescribe low-dose atropine eye drops to relax the eye muscles and block receptors in the retina and sclera, limiting eye growth. For most children, atropine treatment can slow myopic progression by about 50%.

The composition of low-dose atropine eye drops varies, including 0.01%, 0.025%, and 0.05% concentrations. The low dose helps maximize benefits and minimize possible side effects, such as eye irritation, redness, or swelling.

Multifocal Contact Lenses

Multifocal contact lenses are a soft contact lens option that contains multiple prescriptions in the same lens. The design features 2 zones:

• The centre corrects distance vision (similar to traditional contact lenses)
• The outer ring focuses peripheral light to slow eye growth

MiSight contact lenses are daily disposable multifocal lenses for children ages 8 and up. Many children benefit from the comfortable fit and easy maintenance, as there's no need to clean or store the lenses. Additionally, a 3-year study showed that MiSight lenses reduced myopic progression by up to 59%. 

Orthokeratology

Orthokeratology (ortho-k) is a rigid gas permeable (RGP) contact lens option. Ortho-k can significantly slow eye growth to prevent worsening myopia and enhance vision.

 While the child sleeps, the ortho-k lens gently reshapes the cornea to improve vision. Then, the lenses are removed in the morning, and the child experiences improved vision for the day. 

Vision improvement can last up to 2 days after removing the lenses. However, the best effects are achieved if the child consistently wears the lenses at night.

Multifocal Eyeglasses

While contact lenses can offer children freedom from glasses, some kids may not be comfortable wearing them or may have difficulty with lens hygiene. Multifocal eyeglasses work similarly to multifocal contact lenses, with a centre zone for correcting vision and an outer zone for focusing peripheral light.

An example of multifocal eyeglasses is MyoVision lenses. The myopia management eyeglasses are intended for kids ages 6–12. There are 2 lens designs:

• A central zone for correcting distance vision and an outer edge for focusing peripheral light
• An upper zone for correcting distance vision and a bottom zone for supporting close vision tasks & refocusing peripheral light

Environmental Changes

How your child interacts with the world can influence their visual development. Although children are more likely to inherit myopia from a parent, engaging predominantly with close-vision work is a risk factor. Too much indoor time focused on screens, books, or other close-work activities can worsen myopia.

Parents should encourage a balance of outdoor and indoor activities.

Visit Us for Myopia Control

Detecting and managing myopia as early as possible gives children their best chance. Myopia can interfere with their daily life and influence their lifelong eye health. Our caring, knowledgeable team is dedicated to providing personalized solutions to help your child feel comfortable and confident about their vision.

Visit River Heights Eye Care for comprehensive, trustworthy services for the whole family. Book an appointment today!

The post Can Myopia be Reversed in Children? first appeared on River Heights Eye Care.

Myopia is a common refractive error that can worsen with time, increasing your child’s risk of eye disease. You can protect your child’s vision and eye health with help from your eye doctor, but what should you expect from myopia treatments? 

Continue reading to learn more about myopia management, including what to expect and what treatments are available. 

What Is Myopia? 

Did you know over 30% of Canadians have myopia? 

Myopia is a common refractive error where someone has blurry vision from far distances, but close-up objects appear clearly. Light entering the eye doesn’t bend properly, causing it to focus in front of your retina.  

Myopia typically develops in childhood, where it progresses until early adulthood. In rare cases, myopia may continue to progress in adulthood.  

Your child may have several signs they’re experiencing vision problems. However, children may assume everyone sees as they do, so watch for signs of myopia in your child, such as: 

• Squinting excessively
• Having headaches 
• Having strained eyes
• Blinking persistently 
• Seeming unaware of far-away objects
• Rubbing their eyes frequently 
• Sitting close to digital screens or in the front of the classroom

How Does Myopia Develop? 

Someone with myopia has differently shaped eyes than someone without a refractive error. Myopic eyes are typically too long or have a steep curvature, causing light to bend incorrectly as it enters the eye. 

Besides eye shape, other factors may contribute to myopia, including: 

• Reduced time spent outdoors
• Increased time in front of screens
• Family history

The eyes continue to grow as your child does, which can cause myopia to worsen with time. 

High Myopia 

Myopia can worsen as your child grows, causing them to need heavier prescriptions as an adult. When myopia progresses into a more severe form, it becomes high myopia. 

High myopia increases your child’s risk of significant eye diseases in adulthood, including: 

• Cataracts 
• Glaucoma
• Retinal detachment 
• Myopic macular degeneration

Myopia can progress significantly as your child grows. However, specialized treatments can help slow or prevent myopic progression. 

What Is Myopia Management & What Should You Expect? 

While there is no cure for myopia, your eye doctor can help control its progression. Myopia control focuses on slowing eyeball growth to prevent this condition from worsening. Standard single-vision glasses can only help your child see better, so other treatments are necessary to help control myopic progression. 

Many myopia control treatments are easy to adapt to, coming in contact lenses, glasses, or eye drops. Your optometrist can recommend the best treatment for your child’s vision needs. 

Myopia Control Treatments 

There is no wrong choice when choosing a myopia control treatment for your child. Your eye doctor will provide their recommendations on the most effective options for your child. 

Myopia control treatments include specialized eyewear, contact lenses, atropine drops, and environmental changes. 

Specialized Eyewear

Several types of specialized eyewear exist for controlling myopic progression. A common treatment option is the use of MyoVision glasses.

MyoVision lenses help correct and control myopia, helping your child see better while slowing eyeball growth. They utilize peripheral defocus to help peripheral light focus on the retina instead of behind it. Changing how this light focuses slows eyeball growth because the eye isn’t trying to accommodate peripheral light entering the eye. 

Contact Lenses

Different contacts ranging from soft to rigid gas permeable lenses can help correct and control myopic progression. These lenses include multifocal contacts, MiSight contact lenses, and orthokeratology (ortho-k) lenses. 

Multifocal contact lenses contain multiple prescriptions in the same lens, providing clear vision from multiple distances. The centre of the lens can help correct vision, while the outer rings of the lens help focus peripheral light rays, slowing down eye growth. 

MiSight contact lenses help manage myopic progression with their unique design. They’re daily disposable lenses your child replaces every day, making them easy to get used to. 

A centre zone helps correct your child’s vision while alternating rings surround the lens centre to help slow myopia progression. These lenses help slow eyeball growth—a 3-year study found these lenses reduce myopic progression by up to 59%. 

Orthokeratology (ortho-k) contact lenses are reshaping lenses your child wears overnight. These rigid contacts gently shape the cornea as your child sleeps, helping them see clearly the next day without the need for glasses or contacts. Additionally, these lenses help slow myopic progression.

Atropine Drops

Low-dose atropine eye drops can help slow myopic progression by almost 50%. It works by interacting with the eye’s receptors that control eye growth in different tissues. 

Many doses of atropine exist, but the most commonly used doses for myopia control are 0.05% to 0.01%. These doses minimize the risk of side effects while helping slow myopic progression. 

Environmental Changes 

Your child’s lifestyle can affect myopia. Children who spend more time outside can reduce myopic progression. Aim to have your child spend a couple of hours outside every day.

Another possible cause of myopia is time spent on digital devices. The amount of time your child spends using these devices may affect myopic progression. Speaking with your eye doctor about your child’s digital device usage can help. 

Help Protect Your Child’s Vision

Myopia can seem insignificant at first, but it can significantly affect your child’s vision and eye health. Without proper treatment, your child risks a prescription-heavy future and an increased risk of eye disease. You can protect your child’s vision with help from your eye doctor. 

Contact River Heights Eye Care if your child has symptoms of myopia. 

The post What to Expect & Treatments Options for Myopia Management first appeared on River Heights Eye Care.

Regular eye exams are vital for your ocular health. For children, the eye exam helps to ensure their eyes are healthy and can diagnose any potential conditions early. 

These exams can be stressful if you aren’t used to them, so how do you prepare your child for their eye exam? Let’s learn more about some tips and tricks to prepare you and your child for their examination.

How to Prepare your Child for their Exam

For many of us, an eye exam is a regular occurrence in life. For your child, it can be a stressful and possibly confusing experience. How do you prepare your child for their eye exam and ensure they feel comfortable? Try the following tips to help your child understand their upcoming visit: 

Keep Them in the Loop

Some things aren’t meant to be surprises, and news of an upcoming appointment shouldn’t be withheld from your child. After making your appointment, inform your child of the date and time of the examination (give a few day’s notice). 

Prepare Yourself 

You can’t prepare your child if you aren’t prepared yourself. Eye exams are tailored to fit the needs of the individual and procedures and tests may vary depending on the patient’s age. 

Preschool children have more complex eye examinations than toddlers, so understanding the possible procedures can help you prepare your child effectively. 

Being prepared can also include finding the right practice for your family. Finding a family-focused optometry clinic can ensure the best care is given to your child. Preparing their medical history is never a bad idea either. 

List Their Concerns

Ask your child if they have any concerns of their own. They may be experiencing issues they haven’t communicated to you. Mention any fears or anxieties they have and you and the optometry team can work to reduce them as best as possible. 

Ask About Being Present 

Your presence can help calm your child’s nerves, but make sure to confirm you’re able to join. When you book your appointment, ask if you’re able to be with your child, or if there is any reason you can’t. 

Explain What Will Happen

If your child is old enough to understand, explain to them what the optometrist will do during the exam. Explain how the doctor may have them look through different lenses, stare at different symbols or shapes, and how they may have dilating eye drops administered. 

Showing your child how these procedures work can reduce any potential anxiety or confusion. Understanding the examination process is important, so what happens in a pediatric eye exam? 

The Pediatric Eye Exam

A pediatric eye exam is vital to ensure your child’s ocular health. Approximately 80% of learning is visual for children, so healthy eyes are important for your child’s development. A comprehensive eye exam differs depending on the patient’s age, but they all follow a similar procedure: 

Medical History 

Your optometrist will review your child’s medical history, including birth, illnesses, and developmental milestones. They will also discuss your family's eye history. 

You will actively participate in this section of the exam, and be prepared to discuss how your child is doing in school and other activities. You may also be asked if you’ve noticed any issues with your child’s eyes. 

Visual Acuity 

Visual acuity measures the sharpness of your vision. It indicates the amount of detail someone can see. Young children may not be able to identify letters and numbers yet, so pictures and symbols are typically used in a child’s visual acuity test. 

Eye Coordination 

Eye coordination is tested to assess a child’s eye movement, alignment, and tracking. To determine this, an optometrist may observe the movement and fixation of your child’s eyes. Specialized glasses may be used to test depth perception as well. 

Refraction 

Refraction tests look for any focusing issues such as nearsightedness (Myopia), farsightedness (Hyperopia), and astigmatism. The way this is tested depends on your child’s age. 

Younger children typically have a light shone into the eye while different lenses are used to focus the reflection of the retina. Eye drops may be used to dilate the pupil to make the procedure more accurate. 

Older children may look through different lenses to identify which images provide them with the clearest picture. 

Eye Health 

Eye health focuses on examining the structures of the eye. Different instruments shine light into the eye to magnify the view for the optometrist. Eye drops may be utilized to provide a more accurate view of your child’s eye. This part of the examination can include testing peripheral and colour vision.  

Follow-Up 

After the exam, your optometrist will discuss their findings with you. This can include relevant history, concerns, and advice for potential treatments. 

All of these aspects are a part of a comprehensive eye exam for your child, and ensure any conditions or problems are identified. Your optometrist will work with you to make sure your child’s eye exam is successful. 

Visit Your Optometrist

Your child’s eye exam can be stressful, but it doesn’t have to be. Whether it’s time for your child’s regular eye exam or they’re experiencing discomfort, book an appointment with your optometrist. 

The post How to Prepare Your Child for a Pediatric Eye Exam first appeared on River Heights Eye Care.