One of the leading causes of ocular disease in adults that continues to progress is myopia or nearsightedness. While nearsightedness or myopia for many has been corrected through glasses or contact lenses, a relatively new approach to management is known as Myopia Control.
While myopia cannot be reversed, myopia control aims to slow down or stop the progression of myopia. Myopia control May include:
- Orthokeratology (“ortho-k”) or Corneal Refractive Therapy
- Orthokeratology is a contact lens that a child wears overnight to correct blurry distance vision during the day. Also called Ortho-K, the lenses flatten your cornea while you sleep. The next day, light passing through the reshaped cornea falls precisely on the retina, making distant images appear
- Atropine Drops
- Atropine drops are given to patients to dilate (widen) the pupils of the eye during an eye When given to children in small amounts for 2 to 3 years, the drops may slow the progression of myopia. The drops are placed in the eye each night at bedtime.
- Specialty contact lenses and myopia control eyeglasses
- Research has proven that these measures slow down the progression of myopia, thereby significantly decreasing the incidence of complications associated with myopia
In addition to slowing the progression of myopia, myopia control can help in reducing the risk of other eye diseases such as glaucoma, cataracts, and retinal detachments, all of which could lead to permanent vision loss.