Caring for your vision and eye health sometimes goes beyond updating your corrective lenses. It includes managing ongoing concerns, like myopia progression, to prevent worsening vision.
Specialized contact lenses, like orthokeratology and peripheral defocus lenses, help manage worsening vision by slowing down or halting myopia progression in children and young adults.
What is Myopia?
Myopia, commonly known as nearsightedness, is on the rise globally. Some people are born with it, while it develops over time in others.
It occurs when the eye’s shape becomes elongated instead of round, causing light rays to focus in front of the retina, instead of directly on it. This causes distant objects to appear blurry while those close by remain clear.
Myopia can greatly impact one’s quality of life. Simple activities like driving, reading road signs, or even watching TV can become quite challenging without using corrective lenses like glasses or contacts.
About 80% of classroom learning is visual. Children with untreated myopia may struggle in school as their ability to view the board or participate in sports becomes challenging.
Myopia can be easily corrected with tools like glasses or contacts, but it can’t be cured or reversed because structural changes like eye elongation cannot be undone.
However, it can be managed by slowing the rate of eye elongation to prevent worsening vision and the subsequent risk of unmanaged myopia.
All About Myopia Control
Myopia control refers to a range of interventions aimed at slowing myopia progression by reducing the rate at which the eye continues to elongate by altering how light enters the eye.
Ideally, myopia control therapies should begin as soon as myopia is detected, generally during childhood or early adolescence. This is because myopia tends to progress more rapidly at a younger age, and early intervention can improve long-term outcomes.
Children typically start myopia therapy as early as 4, but most commonly begin from ages 6 to 8.
These therapies are particularly effective during this time because the eyes are still developing and growing during childhood, which explains ongoing prescription changes. This period means the eyes are more susceptible to changes, which is why interventions can slow down eye elongation and regulate this growth.
By around age 20, most people’s vision stabilizes because eye growth slows down significantly, reducing the susceptibility to changes.
While addressing myopia control early offers the most ideal results, young adults can also benefit from certain strategies, though they may not experience the same results.
The Importance of Myopia Control
Myopia control is vital for maintaining good vision and ocular health primarily because of the long-term complications of unmanaged myopia.
As myopia progresses, the lengthening of the eye increases, as vision continues to worsen, increasing the risk of developing high myopia.
Measured at a prescription of -6.00 diopters or greater, high myopia significantly increases the risk of developing serious eye concerns like:
- Cataracts
- Glaucoma
- Myopic macular degeneration
- Retinal detachment or tears
When high myopia develops, both distant and nearby objects appear blurry, directly impacting vision clarity.
Leaving high myopia unmanaged can lead to developing eye conditions that greatly increase the risk of vision loss.
Myopia Control Therapy with Contact Lenses
Specialized contact lenses are one of the ways myopia can be effectively managed. Each offers unique benefits and is suited to different needs, highlighting the importance of discussing your options with your optometrist.
During your consultation, your optometrist will evaluate the rate of myopia progression based on previous exams and overall ocular health. This helps determine a suitable therapy option and the duration of treatment.
Ultimately, these contacts work by altering the eye’s focusing mechanism or by reducing eye strain so the shape of the eye doesn’t continue to elongate while simultaneously correcting vision.
Children as young as 8 can wear contact lenses, provided they can maintain excellent lens hygiene, storage, wear, and care to maintain safety.
For those new to contact lenses, we’ll go over how to insert, remove, and care for the lenses safely as part of our Total Myopia program.
Orthokeratology Lenses
Orthokeratology (Ortho-K) lenses are specially designed contact lenses made from rigid gas-permeable materials.
They are worn overnight, during sleep, to gently reshape the cornea. Removed in the morning, the now reshaped cornea allows light to focus properly on the retina, providing clear vision throughout the day without glasses or contact lenses.
These lenses help control myopia progression by temporarily altering the shape of the cornea, which changes how light is refracted onto the retina and reduces eye elongation. Some studies suggest that when light focuses directly on the retina, it can slow down eye elongation by acting as a stop signal for eye growth.
Since the effects of corneal reshaping are temporary, the lenses must be worn consistently every night to maintain clear vision and manage myopia progression.
Unlike other therapies, studies show that ortho-k lenses can effectively slow myopia progression in young adults up to age 29, making them a great option for a wide age demographic.
Peripheral Defocus Lenses
Peripheral defocus lenses prevent myopia from worsening by using zones of focus, creating a bullseye in the center of the lens with outer rings that blur peripheral vision.
This unique design allows the wearer to see clearly at varying distances; near, immediate, and far. The central part of the lens provides clear vision, while the peripheral zones focus light in front of the retina rather than behind it.
This defocusing is believed to signal the eye to slow its elongation, preventing further progression.
These lenses are an effective therapy option for those aged 8 to 18 years old, however, there is no evidence for managing progression in young adults.
Schedule a Consultation
Managing myopia can be done in several ways and these specialized contact lenses provide a convenient approach to preventing further eye elongation and worsening vision.
Consulting with your optometrist is the first step for those ready to explore contact lens options for myopia control.
Connect with our team at Total Vision Rancho Bernardo to schedule an appointment.
