Myopia or also known as nearsightedness doesn’t have to progress every year. Due to increase in screen time, children who are myopic tend to have faster deterioration in sight causing their prescription to get stronger and stronger every year.
Mild myopia typically does not pose any risk for eye health. But moderate and high myopia sometimes are associated with serious, vision threatening eye conditions such as cataracts, glaucoma, retinal holes, tears, and detachments.
There are several ways to slow the progression of your child’s myopia. It involves your child’s eye doctor prescribing special types of spectacle lenses, orthokeratology (corneal molds), soft contact lenses or atropine eye drops.
Myopia management Improves quality of life
Children who are myopic have to wear glasses or contact lenses to correct their blurred vision at distance. However, if you have lower myopia, you are more functional in the morning without glasses or contact lenses. And if your child decides to pursue lasik surgery in the future, a lower prescription means more likelihood of being a good candidate and having better visual outcome after surgery.
If your child is nearsighted, make sure to talk to your eye doctor about myopia management options.
Dr. Gurpinderjeet Kaur