The American Association of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus regards myopia as a progressive disease. That is why children must have regular eye checks at an early age. Myopia management must start as soon as your eye doctor detects it. This could slow myopia progression and give your child a good start in life. Here are the important reasons for managing myopia in kids. 

How Myopia Management Works

Your eye doctor will prepare a custom-fit treatment plan for your child. Using prescription eye drops and contact lenses can help correct your child’s nearsightedness. Myopia management leads to a decrease in myopia progression by 78%. Your eye doctor will discuss the most suitable treatment options for your child. 

The Importance of Myopia Management

A child undergoing myopia management needs to wear corrective contact lenses or eyeglasses. These vision aids can help improve your child’s quality of life. Your child can grow and develop better. Here are the important points of getting early myopia management:
 

• It improves an individual’s quality of life. Research reveals that children and teens can experience fewer changes in their lens prescription. Their vision stabilizes more. Between eye exams, their vision deteriorates less. Better vision allows children and teens to perform better in sports, at home, or at school.
  Studies show that myopia can increase your child’s risk of serious eye diseases. Cataracts, macular degeneration, and retinal detachment can develop in kids with low-level myopia. Higher myopia may increase your child’s risk of vision impairment. 
   

• It can protect eye health. Research shows that a child’s eye growth becomes faster as myopia worsens. In a child with normal vision, the growth is regular until 10-12 years old. If a child’s eyes do not stop growing at 10-12 years old and the growth rate is fast, the child will be nearsighted. Severe growth of the eye extends the retina. This stretching can increase the risk of vision impairment and eye diseases. 
   

The normal length of an eye is 22-24 millimeters. Your child’s risk for vision impairment increases by 25% if your child’s eye grows to 26 millimeters. Once your child’s eye grows to at least 30 millimeters, your child has extreme myopia. The vision impairment risk then increases by 90%.

Factors That Impact Myopia Progression

Children or teens can increase their risk for myopia and its progression. If they stay indoors most of the time, encourage them to step out. Spending about two hours a day, every day, can help prevent myopia. Have them take breaks when doing schoolwork or using their digital devices. Doing close work for hours can increase their risk for myopia. 

Myopia Is Manageable

There are many dangers that can come from myopia if it combines with the usual issues of poor vision. That is why it is important to manage myopia early in life. Managing this eye condition aims to slow or reverse myopia symptoms. This can weaken the way myopia affects your child’s quality of life. 
 

Early myopia management can give your child a good start in life. At Erin Mills Eye Clinic, we aim to work with parents in keeping myopia onset or progression at bay. Feel free to drop by our clinic in Mississauga, Ontario, for an in-person consultation. Please call 647-496-9500 to set an appointment or learn more about our myopia screening or management packages.