Myopia in children
Welcome to a journey of understanding myopia, also known as short-sightedness.
Your child’s health and happiness are at the heart of everything you do. As a caring parent, you want to witness your child flourishing in every way possible – and clear vision is key to that.
If you’ve noticed your child having difficulty seeing things far away, which affects their school performance and playtime enjoyment, they might be experiencing myopia.
The prevalence of myopia is projected to rise due to modern lifestyle changes, where children engage more in activities involving close-up vision such as screen time, studying, and reading indoors rather than spending time outdoors. Genetic predisposition, behavior patterns, and environmental influences all contribute to the development of myopia.
Early detection of myopia not only improves your child’s vision now but can also help slow down its progression and safeguard their eye health for the future.
Wondering how you can help manage your child’s myopia?
Researchers at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University have discovered an innovative way to help manage the progression of myopia. By ensuring clear vision and constant myopic defocus at the same time, they are paving the way for a brighter future for those affected by this condition.
What is Constant Myopic Defocus?
Constant Myopic Defocus is a specific optical strategy that involves providing the eye with a constant, slightly blurred image of distant objects. This technique aims to slow down the progression of myopia, which is the elongation of the eyeball that causes nearsightedness.
The idea behind constant myopic defocus is that by slightly blurring the image of distant objects, the eye receives a signal that it is already focused for distant vision. As a result, it may slow down its growth in an attempt to achieve clearer vision. This approach is based on the concept of emmetropization, the natural process by which the eye adjusts its shape to achieve optimal focus.
As your Opticians, we are committed to helping your child have clear, healthy vision
We work with these new type of corrective lenses that can slow the progression of myopia (near-sightedness) for your child. Myopia control technologies are available in both Spectacle Lenses and Contact Lenses.
Clinical Studies show it can slow myopia progression by 50-60%!
What else can I do to help my child’s myopia?
Experts emphasize the importance of outdoor time in combating short-sightedness among children. Research indicates a strong link between spending less time outdoors during childhood and developing myopia.
Encouraging your children to spend more time outside during daylight hours can significantly contribute to maintaining healthy eyesight. Outdoor environments have been shown to delay the onset of myopia by diverting attention from screens towards natural surroundings.
If your child is showing signs of near-sightedness or already wears glasses or contact lenses for myopia, this new technology could assist in preserving their vision long-term.