Myopia Control

Myopia is a condition where distance vision is blurry but close vision is clear. It is often called ‘’shortsighted’’ or ‘’nearsighted’’. The prevalence among Australian kids developing myopia has been increasing and the age of developing myopia is reducing. This means there is a higher chance of myopia progression throughout childhood. The two main risk factors for a child developing myopia are family history and lifestyle.  A lifestyle that may influence the development of myopia includes outdoor activities, poor lighting levels and prolonged near tasks such as reading and digital devices. Family history increases when one or both parents are myopic, in particular high myopia.
A complication of myopia associated eye disease is retinal detachment, myopia macular degeneration, glaucoma, and cataract.

Prescribing a pair of single vision glasses for distance correction is not the best practice anymore.

Because of its multifactorial causes, there’s no one-and-only treatment for myopia. In fact, there are many treatment options on the market including optical, medical, and behavioural treatments.

The choice of myopia treatments for children should be based on the age of onset, and axial length or refraction at a given age, along with knowledge of their individual rate of progression and overall risk profile. Comprehensive Myopia treatments include a combination of lifestyle advice, a refractive correction method for full-time use, and myopia control methods to reduce or eliminate further progression.

Current optical treatments include myopia control lenses, orthokeratology, myopia control one-day disposable soft contact lenses, and atropine eye drops.

However, not all treatments are created equal.

Our optometrist is a qualified myopia control practitioner and will be able to guide you and your child with the best treatment advice.

Zeiss has developed a new myopia control lens design why not discuss this with us to see if this treatment would suit you.