Myopia Management

Protect Your Child’s Vision with Personalized Support

Nearsightedness (myopia) is a common vision condition that can make vision blurry at a distance. It can affect your child’s sight, eye health, and self-esteem. Sometimes, the early signs of myopia can be mistaken for clumsiness or not being good at sports. It’s also possible for kids with myopia to struggle in school because they can’t see what’s happening at the front of the classroom.

Myopia is a progressive eye condition that can worsen as your child’s eyes grow. That’s why our goal with myopia control is to provide personalized support to help protect your child’s vision and eye health.

Schedule your child’s eye exam with us so we can help set them up for success.

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What Causes Myopia?

Children are more likely to develop myopia if one of their parents has it.

Myopia is on the rise, with experts predicting that half the world may have myopia by 2050. One reason for this increase is excessive “near work,” like using phones, tablets, and computers and spending too much time indoors.

Many children are experiencing myopia sooner and at higher levels because so much of their routine is within arm’s reach.

Myopia Is More than Just Blurry Vision

Myopia is a progressive condition and it comes in different levels. As myopia progresses over time, its effects on sight and eye health can increase.

Increased Prescription Needs

At first, your child may only need corrective lenses occasionally, like when going to the movies or attending a stadium game. But as their eyes grow, nearsightedness can worsen. During their back-to-school eye exams, you may discover they need a much stronger prescription every year.

Your child may need to wear corrective lenses all the time as myopia worsens, or their vision needs may require more specialized lenses as their prescription increases.

Increased Risk of Vision Loss

Myopia also affects eye health. When the eye elongates, the tissue at the back of the eye can become thinner and weaker. Think of it like stretching a rubber band—it’s meant to expand a little, but too much pressure can damage the band.

This thin tissue can increase a child’s risk of developing sight-threatening conditions in their adult years, including cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, and retinal tears.

How Can We Help Slow & Stop Myopia Progression?

Starting myopia management early can make a big difference in how your child’s eye health develops throughout their life. Typically, myopia starts during a child’s school years, so regular eye exams are crucial for early diagnosis. By starting myopia management early, we can help give them the support they need to succeed and feel confident tackling everything they see in their daily life.

We have multiple options available for myopia management. Whether your child is excited to try on colorful frames or might feel more confident with contact lenses, we can help.

Atropine Eye Drops

This thin tissue can increase a child’s risk of developing sight-threatening conditions in their adult years, including cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, and retinal tears.

Eyeglass Lenses

Standard single-vision lenses can correct blurry vision but are not typically designed to slow myopia progression. Special spectacle lenses designed for myopia management can do both—they can make distant objects clearer and help slow down elongated eye growth.

Unlike regular lenses, these lenses have multiple focusing powers. One power can correct nearsightedness, while the other can stop the eye from being stimulated by misfocused light, which can cause the eye to keep growing.

MiSight Contact Lenses

MiSight 1 day contact lenses are daily disposable soft contact lenses designed to slow myopia progression in children.

The lens has a bull’s eye design. The center of the lens can correct blurry vision, just like a regular contact lens prescription., while the outer rings of the lens help slow myopia progression by realigning incorrectly focused light (known as peripheral defocus). These rings help pull light in the right direction to prevent elongated eye growth.

Ortho-K Contact Lenses

Orthokeratology, or ortho-k, involves wearing specialty contact lenses overnight to reshape the cornea gently. When your child wakes up, they can remove the lenses and enjoy clearer vision. Just like a retainer is worn to straighten teeth, ortho-k is worn to improve the cornea’s shape—and consistent wear is crucial to maintain the benefits.

Ortho-k can be a game-changer for kids and parents who want an option designed for convenient daytime vision—and can eliminate concerns about lost contacts or broken glasses.

Manage Nearsightedness: Personalized Support for Kids

Myopia management is all about creating personalized strategies to maintain your child’s vision and eye health. We’re passionate about making a difference in people’s lives by providing thorough and thoughtful vision care. Starting from childhood, we can truly make a difference in how your child sees and experiences the world.

If you have questions about myopia or your child’s vision, let us help you answer them. Book an appointment at Maple Valley Eye Care Center today.

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