Stephen Olwell Opticians on myopia management

Hi, Stephen Olwell here again. I want to follow on from last month’s article, where I wrote about the large trend towards myopia (shortsightedness) that is happening worldwide.

If you missed this article, it is still available on the Leader website.

This month I wanted to outline how we can reduce the risk of children becoming more myopic and thereby reduce the risks of eye disease. 

How would I know if my child is myopic?

When a child squints at TV or reports headaches in their forehead, these can be signs of myopia, and they should have an eye examination. 

The younger a child becomes myopic, the more likely it is to be progressive.

What can we do to slow the progression?

The first thing to do is to prescribe glasses. When vision is blurred, this can cause the eye to grow and become more myopic. Simply correcting vision with glasses is the first step on the journey, although it is a small step.

There are better ways of correcting vision than simple glasses.

A simple pair of glasses will correct a vision problem that exists today, so a child can see well, but it does not do enough to prevent the condition from getting worse. Myopia progression can still occur. 

Better options are available, and these include special “myopia control” spectacles and contact lenses, or orthokeratology (overnight vision correction).

What’s special about “myopia control” spectacles and contact lenses?

These lenses look like normal spectacles and contact lenses but work in a different way. These lenses change the way central and peripheral light are focused on the back of the eye. 

By focusing a child’s central vision perfectly but using the edges of the lens to give a slightly different image, we can prevent the eye from growing and becoming more myopic.

What is Orthokeratology (Overnight Vision Correction)?

Orthokeratology (OrthoK) is a fantastic method of vision correction where a contact lens is used to mould the front of the eye while we sleep. These lenses are removed on waking and give perfectly clear vision without lenses or glasses all day long. The nature of the moulding of the eye provides perfectly clear vision with peripheral defocus much like the myopia control spectacles and soft contact lenses mentioned above, but without the need for any spectacles or contact lenses in the daytime at all.

Which method is best?

Currently all of these methods which are available to opticians have been shown to slow myopia progression to a similar degree, and the best method is the one which suits the child and parents the most. 

Have a talk with your optician about your child’s risk of myopia and how best to ensure that their vision develops at a normal pace. 

I look forward to writing a bit more about orthokeratology, which is one of my favourite methods of myopia management, in next month’s column.

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