– Myopia Control –
Myopia, or short-sightedness, is increasing worldwide. For example, in Australia, the rate of 12 year old myopic children of a Asian descent is now 50%, whilst the rate of Australian kids of European Caucasian descent has doubled from 2005 to 2011 (French et al, 2013). By 2050, it is predicted that half of the world’s population (49.8%) will by short-sighted, roughly doubling the rate from 2000 (23%). That’s 5 billion people! Why is this so important? It means that up to 1 billion of these people will be at risk of developing myopia-related ocular pathology.
Unfortunately, myopia (and especially high myopia more than -5.00D) is linked with several serious ocular health conditions.
The table below summarises the increased risk of several ocular pathologies linked with increasing amounts of myopia:
| Odds ratios of increased risk of ocular pathology with increasing levels of myopia (Summarised by Flitcroft, 2012) | |||||
| Myopia (D) | Glaucoma | Cataract (PSCC) | Retinal detachment | Myopic maculopathy | |
| –1.00 to –3.00 | 2.3 | 2.1 | 3.1 | 2.2 | |
| –3.00 to –5.00 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 9.0 | 9.7 | |
| –5.00 to –7.00 | 3.3 | 5.5 | 21.5 | 40.6 | |
| < –7.00 | – | – | 44.2 | 126.8 | |
If your child has been diagnosed with myopia (short-sightedness), it’s important to try to minimise its progression as much as possible, because the higher the prescription, the higher the chance of serious ocular pathologies developing in the future.
According to the latest research in the field, there are several techniques to slow down the progression of myopia in children.
How to slow the progression of myopia in children
1) Get outdoors (less screen time, more green time!)
2) Orthokeratology contact lenses
3) Atropine eye drop therapy
At Eyeconic Optometry, we take the development of myopia seriously and know all of the latest research in this fast-growing area to be able to tailor a personalised treatment plan for you or your child.
We also have access to software that, using age and family history, will predict how myopic you or your child will become in the future if you don’t have a treatment plan. So if you or your child has a prescription that keeps changing and glasses that continually get stronger and stronger each year, come in to see us so that we can have a chat about what strategies might work the best for you.
Read more about children’s vision testing at Eyeconic Optometry or book an eye test.
