Myopia Control Clinic
What is myopia or nearsightedness?
This is where you see blurry at far, but clear at near. It is usually due to a longer eyeball length.
The environment plays a significant role for one to develop myopia. The risk becomes higher when 1 or 2 of the parents have myopia. In the old days, when your child’s grade increases, regular glasses or contact lenses were given. However, these were not beneficial in stabilizing the eye grade.
Why do we need to control nearsightedness?
Vision threatening conditions such as retinal degeneration, glaucoma, cataract, and retinal detachment can develop due to nearsightedness. That is why every 1 Diopter (grade of 100) counts. Every 1 Diopter reduction of nearsightedness can reduce the risk of myopia maculopathy by 40%, primary open-angle glaucoma by 20%, and retinal detachment by 30%.
At Gold Heart Optical, we use different ways of controlling the nearsightedness of patients:
Option 1. Soft Bifocal /Progressive Contact Lenses. These contact lenses were initially designed to help people with presbyopia (loss of ability to see at near when they get to above 40 years of age) to see objects clearly at distance and near. Studies show that this has up to 50% efficacy in controlling nearsightedness.
Option 2. Soft Daytime Ortho-K Contact Lenses. These soft contact lenses mimic the design of overnight orthokeratology. There is a change in the prescription towards the edge of the lens, which allows the light to enter the eye to focus on the correct areas, enabling the nearsightedness to be more stable.
Option 3. Overnight Ortho-K Contact Lenses. These contact lenses are worn while sleeping to reshape the cornea (the transparent part of the front of the eye). Patients can see clearly during the day without contact lenses. Research suggests that these contact lenses optically alter the eye in a way that slows nearsightedness progression. In our clinic, we fit this for patients younger than 18 years old. For older patients, we recommend using option 1 or 2. Effectivity of this system is up to 50%.
Option 4. Specially Designed Eyeglass Lenses. Not all patients will have good results with them. But this option is better than conventional single vision glasses. A particular group of patients may have good results with them.
When should we stop nearsighted control?
It was previously mentioned that nearsightedness stops progressing when the patient gets to 17 -18 years of age. However, we continuously see young adults with increasing eye grade. In this population,
A thorough evaluation is needed for us to recommend the best option for your child.
Book your appointment with us at 09215452389 or goldheartoptical@gmail.com.
