MYOPIA CONTROL AT PACIFIC VISION CARE
What is myopia?
Myopia is the technical term for the vision condition of near-sightedness. Patients with myopia have blurry distance vision and require corrective lenses (glasses or contact lenses) to provide adequate clarity of vision to complete daily activities.
What is myopia progression?
Myopia progression refers to the increase of nearsightedness that commonly occurs in nearsighted children between the ages of 6-18. Myopia progression requires increasingly stronger powers of correction to provide adequate vision and also puts patients at increased risk for eye diseases, like retinal detachments and glaucoma. Also, if the amount of myopia is high or the progression is fast, procedures like LASIK may be ruled out.
What is myopia management?
Sometimes referred to as myopia control, myopia management involves intervening with special methods of vision correction to slow down the rate of myopia progression as a child ages. The goal of myopia management is to limit the degree of nearsighted correction as a child ages. Myopia management is not expected to completely stop any progression or reverse any existing nearsightedness, although it does in some cases.
How does myopia management work?
Current research shows effective slowing of myopia progression with three main methods of management
Low dose atropine
- This involves instillation of a daily medicated eye drop in each eye. Many studies support the use of this medication for this purpose, and there are 3 concentrations of drops that are used.
- Glasses or contact lenses will still be required for appropriate nearsighted correction
Daily wear multifocal soft contact lenses
- This involves wearing multifocal soft contact lenses during the daytime only as the method of nearsighted correction. The FDA has approved MiSight and Naturalvue for nearsightedness control. Pacific Vision Care has both of these lenses available.
Overnight orthokeratology contact lenses
- This involves wearing specially designed orthokeratology contact lenses while sleeping overnight as the method of nearsighted correction. Successfully fit orthokeratology lenses are removed upon awakening and provide clear uncorrected vision throughout the day. Pacific Vision Care uses the Paragon CRT lens system for orthokeratology.
Which myopia management method is right for me?
In order to determine if you are a candidate for myopia progression management, specialized and detailed measurements of the eye and focusing system are required. These measurements require advanced techniques and instrumentation that are not included in a traditional eye exam. We are happy to schedule a myopia management consultation to provide this special testing and consultation on your management options.