Loading...

Myopia Management




Myopia Management


More children are developing myopia (short sightedness). While glasses and contact lenses can correct the condition, until now, they have been unable to slow its rate of progress.

Slowing the progress of myopia in children can significantly reduce the risk of complication and vision loss later in life.

We are proud to be one of the first optometrists in the UK to offer revolutionary new glasses and contact lenses that can actually reduce the rate at which myopia worsens.

What is Myopia?
Myopia (short or near-sightedness) usually begins in childhood. For many years, it has been recognised that myopia is increasing globally: in the Western World, the prevalence has risen from 20% to 40% over the last 25 years, and in some parts of Asia it is as high as 90% by 2050, it is estimated that half of the population of the World will be myopic.

What Causes Myopia?
Myopia usually begins in childhood and is more common in children who have a myopic parent, although sometimes there is no family history. Other influencing factors are ethnicity, environment and spending increased amounts of time doing near tasks, including using smart phones, tablets and computers.

What are the risks of myopia?
The onset of myopia at an early age brings with it the likelihood of lifelong eye care. Increasing levels of myopia are connected with a number of serious eye problems such as retinal detachment, glaucoma and macular disease. This is due to the eye becoming more elongated as it becomes more myopic. Just like a balloon becomes more translucent as you blow it up and the membrane is stretched, the membrane of the eye becomes thinner and more stretched as it becomes more myopic.

How can we reduce the chances of myopia?
A key part of any myopia management is to encourage children to spend more time outdoors; ideally 12 hours or more per week. Studies have shown that by increasing outdoor time in this way helps to prevent myopia onset and development.

How can Angus McPhie Optomtetrists help?
Although there is currently no cure for myopia, at Angus McPhie Optometrists we are able to fit your child with special contact lenses or glasses to slow down or possibly even halt the progression of myopia. Our eye care practitioners have extensive experience in myopia control and can advise whether your child is suitable to be treated. Every child is different and each treatment is tailored to suit both the child and the type of correction that needs to be controlled.

MISIGHT CONTACT LENSES LENSES


Recently introduced in the UK, MiSight contact lenses are soft daily disposable lenses that significantly reduce the rate of myopia progression. It is worn through the day as a standard one day soft lens, for a minimum of six days a week. According to the two year data from the ongoing European study, the unique optics of the MiSight one day disposable lens have been proven to slow down the progression of myopia by up to 59%. This means that if fitted early enough with this lens, most children will end up with less than half the level of myopia than if fitted with a conventional contact lens or conventional spectacles.

STELLEST GLASSES LENSES
We now also offer Stellest glasses lenses. Stellest lenses are myopia management glasses lenses which are both safe and convenient for the patient - just like wearing ordinary spectacle lenses. The lenses provide vision correction so the wearer will experience comfortable vision in daily wear as well as working to reduce the rate of progression of Myopia by on average 67%. They are easy to adapt to with 90% of children fully adapted within 3 days and 100% within one week. They incorporate a constellation of 1021 invisible lenslets spread on 11 rings designed to create a signal that slows down the elongation of the eye.