Myopia Management

Slow the progression of your child’s nearsightedness.

Does your child have difficulty seeing distant objects?

Being myopic or more commonly called "nearsighted" is when your vision cannot be cleared naturally at distance. This usually starts while young, around age 6-9, and continues to progress while we grow towards adulthood. According to the Review of Optometry, the global rates of myopia are increasing, with 1.5 billion people currently affected, increasing to 5 billion people by 2050. Many researchers believe the rise can be attributed to more time spent starting at screens and less time outdoors. Blurred vision and thicker lenses are not the only problem that is associated with myopia, as the rates for sight threatening diseases such as glaucoma, retinal detachment, cataracts, and myopic maculopathy all increase.

Historically, treating myopia has been done by correcting the blurriness with the appropriate glasses or contact lenses, but recent studies and data are changing the way we think about the treatment and progression of myopia. We can now do more to slow down and manage the progression to reduce the total amount of myopia a person develops. Your doctors at Isthmus Eye Care can work with you and your child to find a suitable treatment plan to best clear the vision and slow progression down, with current studies finding reduction rates from 40-60% depending on the treatment.

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There are several treatment options to slow the progression of myopia. Learn more.

How do you "manage" myopia?

Determining a myopia management plan for your child starts with a visit to your eye doctor.

There are a few main approaches to controlling myopia in children, including:

Soft Contact Lenses

Researchers and eye doctors have found that multifocal soft contact lenses are also effective tools for myopia control in children. Some research demonstrates that using soft multifocal lenses in children caused a 25-50% reduction in progression over 2 years. Types of recommended contact lenses include:

MiSight Daily Disposable Contact Lens Program

MiSight 1 Day® contact lens is the only FDA approved, soft contact lens indicated to slow the progression of myopia (nearsightedness) in children, aged 8-12 at the initiation of treatment. Slowing of myopia progression is expected but not guaranteed. We are excited to journey together with your family in this program now and into the future. We are committed to be available along this journey and we ask for your commitment to the visit to schedule and lens wear expectations.

Soft Monthly Multifocal Contact Lenses

Multifocal contact lenses use different optical zones within the same lens to give the child both near and far vision during wear. Specific designs can help slow the progression of myopia. Full-time wear of the contacts would be optimal for success.

Eyeglass Lenses

Utilizing glasses for Myopia Management allows children to clearly see far away objects through the top portion of the spectacle lens. The bottom portion of the lens contains the reading power, which may control myopia progression by creating a peripheral defocus or pulling the peripheral vision into focus in front of the retina. Full-time wear is recommended. Eyezen 4 anti-fatigue, progressive, or bifocal lenses, are all options to use for Myopia Management.

Atropine Eye Drops

The use of low dose atropine can reduce the progression of myopia (nearsightedness) in children. Atropine is recommended to be administered one drop in each eye at night prior to sleep. Atropine treatment is to be used in conjunction with corrective lenses - either an eyeglass or contact lens prescription.

At Isthmus Eye Care, we will guide you through the process, and answer all your questions to make sure that you and your child are comfortable and understand your treatment. One question that is commonly asked is if contact lenses are safe for young children. Physically, a child's eye can tolerate contact lenses at a very young age. Before we recommend contacts we make sure that the parents and the child all understand the responsibility and maturity level necessary to care for the contacts and their eyes.

Our focus at Isthmus Eye Care is to provide you with the information you need to be able to make the most educated decisions regarding your child's health and vision. Your child's doctor is happy to discuss and answer any questions you may have.

If you’d like to learn more about myopia management, request an appointment at Isthmus Eye Care today.

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“Seeking any type of medical care triggers my anxiety, but my visit at Isthmus Eye Care was smooth and easy. Everyone is incredibly welcoming and kind, the equipment is cutting-edge (no more scary antiquated machines I've experienced elsewhere) and the doctors are very thorough. I feel 100% confident in my prescription and other recommendations regarding my eye care and am no longer as nervous to return to an optometrist following my experience here. Highly recommend.”

Madelyn A.