Can we prevent nearsightedness from getting worse in children?

Kids myopia treatment San Diego

Myopia, commonly known as nearsightedness, is caused by an irregularity in the shape of the eyeball. The eyeball is elongated in a front-to-back direction. This causes light to be focused slightly in front of the retina, instead of directly on it. For people with myopia, objects up close can be seen clearly, but objects farther away will appear blurry.

For kids who have myopia, the condition generally gets worse throughout childhood. As the eyeball grows, the shape becomes more and more elongated. Many kids need a stronger prescription each year, continuing until the eye stabilizes in the early 20s. When they become adults, they may find themselves relying on a very strong prescription just to function in daily life. Having a high degree of myopia also increases the risk of eye conditions like glaucoma, retinal detachment, and early cataracts.

Fortunately, there are a few different treatment methods that can be used on kids to help stabilize the shape of the eyeball and slow down the progression of myopia.

MiSight

MiSight lens are soft, disposable contact lenses for kids, which are designed to slow down the progression of myopia in children. They were FDA approved in late 2019. Kids wear these lenses during the day, and then take a break from them at night. MiSight lenses address myopia in order to provide clear vision. They focus light in a particular way that helps to remove the stimulus for the eyeball to grow longer, so that the progression of myopia will be less.

Disposable lenses are considered the safest type of contact lenses. Because a new one is used each day, there’s less chance of developing an eye infection from a dirty lens. Kids may not reliably clean their contact lenses, so disposable lenses are particularly useful for them. Soft contact lenses also tend to be more comfortable than rigid ones, which helps to encourage kids to wear them.

CRT and Ortho-K

There is also another type of contact lenses that can be used for myopia control, but they work in a completely different way. These are known as corneal reshaping technology (CRT) or orthokeratology (Ortho-K). These are hard contact lenses that are worn only during sleep, and removed during the day.

The lens causes reshaping of the cornea, which is the clear covering at the front of the eye. Changing the cornea’s shape leads to changes in how light passes through the cornea into the eye. In effect, this treatment is like a temporary form of laser vision correction. It’s a good option for people who are not candidates for laser eye surgery for any reason, including children. Besides allowing kids to experience improved vision without corrective lenses, the treatment also helps to limit the lengthening of the eye. Research has shown that regular use of orthokeratology lenses in children significantly slows the progression of myopia.

Some people find rigid contact lenses to be uncomfortable, when these are worn during the day for vision correction. However, because CRT or Ortho-K lenses are worn only while sleeping, this is generally much less of an issue. It’s still important to take care of the lenses by cleaning them well and not losing them. For younger kids, parents may need to help with this.

Atropine eye drops

Another treatment option doesn’t involve any contact lenses at all. This involves atropine eye drops. Atropine is the same medication that’s used in an eye exam, to dilate your pupils and allow your eye doctor to see into your eye. When it’s used for myopia control, the dose of atropine is much lower. The atropine drops are put into the child’s eye each day.

Although low-dose atropine eyedrops have been shown to be very effective in reducing the progression of myopia, it’s still not entirely clear why they work so well. However, there’s a possible mechanism that has been proposed. Besides dilating the pupils, atropine also causes relaxation of the muscles that pull on the lens of the eye. Research has shown an association between spending long periods of time doing close-up work (such as reading) and the progression of myopia. When the muscles pull on the lens too much for too long, this may affect the shape of the eyeball. By relaxing these muscles, atropine prevents them from pulling too hard, so they don’t cause elongation of the eyeball.

Kids myopia treatment San Diego

If your child has myopia, then treatment may be able to help prevent it from getting worse. Your options include MiSight lenses that are worn during the day, orthokeratology lenses that are worn at night, or atropine drops that are used each day. For any of these treatments, it’s key to use the treatment consistently in order for it to be effective. If you decide that myopia control treatment is right for your family, then you’ll need to commit to using it daily in order to get the benefits.

There are various tradeoffs between these different options. If you’re considering myopia treatment San Diego for your child, then we’d be happy to discuss your options with you and help you choose the best one for your family. Please contact our office to make an appointment.