What is Myopia Management?
At Duncan and Todd, we are raising awareness of myopia and the importance of effective myopia management solutions, exploring what myopia is and how myopia management can benefit your children's eyesight as they grow up.
Understanding Myopia:
Myopia, commonly known as short-sightedness, is a refractive error that causes distant objects to appear blurred, while near objects remain clearly focused. Without proper management, myopia can progress and potentially lead to vision complications later in life. Myopia usually occurs due to the elongation of the eyeball, this can be due to the eye growing too quickly in childhood, causing light to focus in front of the retina rather than directly on it.
Myopia can be hereditary, but what we do also matters. Spending too much time engaged in close-up activities like reading or using screens, and not enough time outdoors, can exacerbate the condition. The early onset of short-sightedness at a young age is concerning, as it can lead to high myopia. High myopia, in turn, increases the risk of eye diseases such as retinal detachment, glaucoma, and myopic maculopathy later in life.
Myopia Management
What can be done to help with myopia? Myopia management aims to slow the deterioration, so your child’s vision remains clearer for longer between eye tests. It's important to act early, myopia often gets worse during childhood and adolescence. Glasses and contact lenses are some of the effective myopia management solutions available and regular eye tests are important to ensuring your eyes are healthy.
Duncan and Todd’s own Myopia Management Solution
Duncan and Todd offer Imperium an effective Myopia Management spectacle lens solution. These lenses combine science and expertise to protect children’s visual health effectively and safely. Imperium lenses manage and ultimately control myopia's advancement, lowering the risk of eye diseases like myopic maculopathy, the most common and severe vision-threatening issue linked with myopia.
Ortho-K Lenses
Another innovative solution for myopia management is Orthokeratology (Ortho-K) lenses. Ortho-K lenses are specially designed rigid gas permeable (RGP) lenses and are worn like contact lenses, overnight to gently reshape the cornea while your child sleeps, providing clear vision during the day without the need for glasses or daytime contact lenses.
Soft Contact Lenses
Soft contact lenses are made to adjust how light focuses on the edges of vision. Your child would wear them just like regular contact lenses, but their vision might be a bit less sharp compared to traditional contact lenses.
What to look out for
Watch out for signs such as sitting in close proximity to the TV, frequent complaints of headaches or tired eyes, and regular rubbing of the eyes. In a classroom setting, teachers might observe a child requesting to sit closer to the front of the class due to difficulties in reading the whiteboard.
Advice from our Experts:
- Encourage as much outdoor time as possible - ideally 13 hours per week
- Reduce screen time
- 20/20/20 rule: every 20 minutes of near-screen use, look up at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds
- Elbow rule: when viewing anything at a close distance, keep it at least a palm to elbow length away
Regular Eye Tests are Key to Effective Myopia Management:
You should book an eye test if you think you or your child may be short-sighted. You should have a routine eye test with an optician at least every two years and children every year, but you can have a test at any point if you have any concerns about your vision.
This is a reminder of the importance of prioritising eye health and seeking effective myopia management solutions for your children.
