Our eyes are the most precious part of our face. It not only enhances our beauty but also helps us to see little things we miss. Our eyes need proper care to provide clear and strong eyesight. Negligence can lead to severe eye diseases. Myopia is one of them. Myopia needs to be treated in time or may lead to serious eye problems. Myopia is considered a global eye epidemic and an eye disease that is common among school-aged children.
At vision space, we are passionate to help children by providing them the best possible way to slow myopia with myopia management.
Read more (Keep your eyes healthy and enjoy a better version of life)
What is Myopia?
The word myopia comes from a Greek word called “muops”, which means short-sighted. Myopia is one of the most common eye disease and is also known as ‘nearsightedness’. For people with nearsightedness, nearby objects are visibly clear but distance objects are blurry.
Now the question is, how does light propagate inside a myopic eye? The light from the nearer object travels in the usual way and gets focused on the retina. So there isn’t any problem. But the bottleneck occurs when it comes to distance objects. The light rays from a faraway thing, coming towards eyes are parallel to each other. While entering the eye, these rays get converged in front of the retina instead of on the retina. And this is the reason for the blurriness. The reason for the light to converge in front of the retina rather than on the retina is the longer length of the eyeball, which leads to myopia. Because of the elongated eyeball, the distance between the lens and the retina is more than usual.
Symptoms of Myopia
People with myopia will experience following symptoms:
- Eye strain
- Headache
- Squinting
- The faraway object looks fuzzy or blurry
- Feeling tired while looking more than a few feet away, driving, or playing
Some symptoms of myopia are noticeable in children:
- Holding an object close to the face
- Short attention span and poor school grades
- Going close when watching television
What causes myopia
- Spending long hours on near work (eg, reading, playing computer games/tablets, smartphones)
- Hereditary
- Uncorrected vision
- Asian ethnicity (research was done)
Ways to Prevent or Slow down Myopia
- Outdoor light can help to slow down the onset and progression of myopia (but remember to wear sunglasses or hat for UV protection)
- Regular eye examination (once every 6 months)
- Increase outdoor activities
- Maintain a time limit on digital devices
- Avoid working or reading in dim light
- Reduce near work time
- Practice 20-20-20 rule (take a break for 20 seconds by looking 20 feet far after 20 minutes of near work)
What if my child is already Myopic?
Spectacles and contact lenses are options to correct blurred distance vision. Though several refractive surgeries can correct myopia, these surgeries are only available for adults. Spectacle lenses, myopia soft contact lenses, Ortho-K lens and atropine drops have been proven to effectively slows down myopia.
Myopia control spectacle lenses can slows down myopia progression by 35% to 59% depending on the lens design. Single vision lenses helps the child to see clearly, but a myopia control spectacle lens will help the child to slows down short sightedness and see clearly at the same time.
Myopia control soft contact lens are contact lens worn on a daily basis during day time to slow down myopia progression.
Orthokeratology (Ortho-K) lenses are semi hard lenses approved by FDA that is safe to be worn to sleep at night. It reshapes the cornea and enables you to enjoy clear vision during day time. This method has proven to effectively slow down myopia by 59%.
And last but not least, atropine drops. Atropine eye drops are prescribed by eye specialist to effectively slow down myopia. This drops are usually used before going to sleep at night.
We always enjoy great service from others. Likewise, at Vision Space, we want to be known to be providers of great service to our customers. We will go the extra mile to serve you for many, many, many years! We promise you to provide the best eye care possible by our team of trusted and passionate optometrists using the latest eye care equipment to keep your eyes healthy forever. Also, we constantly seek and source internationally for several types of eyewear that look great on you, are super comfortable, and enhance your personality. Kindly visit our official website to get the best eye care and the best eyewear as per your choices and preferences. http://www.visionspace.com.my/.