Myopia Control and treatment for nearsightedness in Colchester and Hebron
Myopia, also referred to as nearsightedness, is a refractive error that causes blurry distance vision. This condition can develop as early as 7 years of age, and is known to get progressively worse until the early to mid twenties. Studies have shown that more and more people are living with myopia, and that those with myopia are experiencing higher levels of blurriness.
Why exactly are we experiencing such high levels of myopia?
There are several reasons for this:
- Myopia is an inherited disorder. Basically, if your parents are nearsighted, chances are you will be too.
- Children and young adults use electronics and computers now more than ever. This prolonged use causes the eye to continue to grow, resulting in “axial elongation”, which makes a person nearsighted.
- The increased amount of time spent indoors. Along with the increase in electronic usage comes less time outdoors and thus less need to focus on distant object and develop this aspect of seeing.
What can we do about it?
Until recently, the only real treatment options for myopia were contact lenses and eyeglasses, and maybe later on, refractive surgery.
Myopia Control
New scientific research has been successful in controlling how quickly nearsightedness progresses. Through the use of these new treatments, referred to as “Myopia Control”, doctors are able to significantly slow the progression of myopia, in some cases as much as 70% to 90%. With early treatment, we are now able to control how much the eye grows, meaning that children today will experience only a fraction of the same nearsightedness later in life.
The doctors at Colchester Eye Care and Hebron Eye Care use Soft Multifocal Contact Lenses and Progressive Eye Glasses to assist in controlling Myopia
Why Not LASIK?
We often get the question: why can’t I just get LASIK? While LASIK has been proven very successful in the treatment of refractive errors, myopia is a little more complicated. LASIK only changes the surface of the cornea and not the shape of the entire eye. Because myopic patients actually have an elongated eye, they are more at risk for diseases such as retinal detachments, glaucoma, myopic maculopathy and early cataracts. While LASIK can restore some distance vision to myopic patients, it does not do anything to prevent these diseases.
If you are living with myopia, or if you have a child who was diagnosed with myopia, call Colchester Eye Care of Hebron Eye Care today to see what we can do to help. Set up an appointment now!
