Myopia Control
Help preserve your child’s future vision
Myopia (nearsightedness) is on the rise, a condition wherein children need glasses to see clearly in the distance. With our children spending more time in front of screens and less time outdoors, myopia is fast becoming an epidemic.
Childhood myopia tends to get worse over time, resulting in the need for stronger and stronger glasses. By the year 2050, it is estimated that 50% of the world will suffer from myopia — about 5 billion people. The consequences of high myopia are more than just thick glasses. Those with myopia have a higher risk of blindness or vision impairment due to retinal detachment, macular degeneration and glaucoma.
Limestone Eyecare is proud to offer myopia control; a series of treatments and therapies meant to slow down the progression of myopia and help preserve your child’s future vision. For all patients, at least 1-2 hours of outdoor time every day is recommended as it has been shown to be correlated with later onset and reduced progression of myopia. If there is any amount of myopia prior to age 11, myopia control strategies are recommended.
Myopia control treatments & therapies
MiSight by Cooper Vision are contact lenses that work to limit the growth length of the eye by focusing peripheral light in front of the retina. This has been shown to slow down eye elongation and therefore myopia. This method is caused peripheral defocus. Because light still focuses accurately on the central retina, clarity of vision is maintained.
These contact lenses are for daily contact lens wear, and should be worn most of the day but taken off while sleeping. MiSight daily disposable lenses are approved by Health Canada to control and slow myopia progression. This solution is ideal for those with little to no astigmatism.
Studies show that axial elongation (eye growth) is slowed by 46-87% with this method.
This is an option for those parents that are somewhat hesitant to try the other options. They work on the same principle of peripheral defocus. However, because they sit further from the eye than contact lenses, the efficacy isn’t as great. Studies show this option can reduce myopia progression by up to 30%.
Atropine has been used in eye care for over 100 years to help eye doctors view inside the eye and treat certain eye conditions. To control myopia, research has discovered that Atropine can slow down prescription change by about 50%. Drops are taken once per day at night before bed.
A hard contact lens is inserted at night time just before bed and removed immediately upon awakening. This gently reshapes the surface of the eye, taking the child’s prescription to zero. This allows the child to go to school without the need for glasses or contact lenses. Ortho-K slows down the rate of myopia progression by about 50-60%.
(Coming soon to Limestone Eyecare.)