How to Effectively Manage Myopia

How to Effectively Manage Myopia

How to Effectively Manage Myopia

How to Effectively Manage Myopia

Individuals with myopia should know that the condition can worsen each year. It has become such a global epidemic that the lack of effective management can further cause complications. The topic of controlling it garners significant attention among many medical care professionals. It is now a standard of care to educate people about myopia control due to public health concerns. 

Several effective ways can help reduce the rate of myopia progression. This article discusses the current myopia control strategies that eye doctors can use.


What is Myopia?

 


Before tackling a problem, you need to know and understand it. Myopia or nearsightedness is an eye condition that results from an eyeball growing too long. The growth of the eyeball is indicated by its axial length. When your axial length grows excessively, your vision directly suffers. Thus, any treatment has to prove efficacy in reducing axial length elongation compared to a control group.

Here are four different types of treatment that have proven to slow the rate of myopia progression effectively. Read on to learn them.


Orthokeratology

 


Orthokeratology uses contact lenses specially designed to reshape the cornea gently. It entails wearing the contacts overnight and removing them in the morning when you wake up. Orthokeratology has other names like gentle vision shaping system and corneal reshaping treatment. The technology gently flattens the corneal curvature for light to get directed onto your retina.

Orthokeratology was initially meant to improve vision for adults and children to see clearly. However, studies show that it effectively reduces the progression of nearsightedness.


Atropine

 


You can use eye drops made from a pharmaceutical agent called atropine. It has helped treat children with amblyopia, also called lazy eye, for many years. Atropine can also dilate the pupils and treat uveitis.

Atropine can help slow down the progression of nearsightedness if its concentration gets diluted. It blocks some eye signals that make the eye grow longer. As a result, it directly impacts myopia growth rate by slowing the axial length increase.


Soft Multifocal Custom Contact Lenses

 


The FDA keeps approving more contact lenses designed to manage and slow down the progression of nearsightedness. MiSight contacts are an example. They reduce myopia progression by 60 percent compared to other control groups. These contact lenses focus light in front of your retina’s peripheral due to the different powers it has throughout the lens. 

The special powers designed for such lenses enable the treatment of nearsightedness-related vision problems during the day. It also prevents the eye from growing very long.


Bifocal and Multifocal Eyeglasses
 


Studies show that wearing lenses at different distances helps individuals with esophoria. Esophoria is the wrong positioning of eye muscles that often affects children. Bifocal or multifocal prescription glasses lenses can achieve the correction.

Studies have proven bifocals more effective, especially those with a line at the lower margin of the pupil. Some parents with children suffering from esophoria opt not to have their kids wear contact lenses or use eye drops. Some children may also be too young. Thus, the use of bifocal or multifocal lenses has proven to help.

For more about myopia management, visit San Marino Optometry at our San Marino, California office. Call 626-270-2020 to schedule an appointment today. We proudly serve the San Marino, San Gabriel, and Arcadia communities.

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