Myopia

Childhood myopia is a progressive form of nearsightedness that starts during the child’s growing years and increases later. It is a refractive error in which the objects at a distance appear blurred. This happens because the image falls in front of the retina instead of on the retina

Myopia can be corrected with glasses, contact lenses, or refractive surgery. Refractive surgery is generally advised after the no’s stop increasing, around the age of 18.

Progression of myopia:

In a myopic child, the eye is longer than normal. As the child grows in height, the length of the eye also increases. That is why myopia nearly always progresses. All that you can do is get the vision corrected regularly and makes the child wear the right prescription so that his mental growth and education do not suffer.

A partial solution is available in the form of atropine 0.01% eye drops. It may cause difficulty in reading. If your child can tolerate it we will advise this treatment to reduce the progression of myopia.

Do not try fraud remedies

Because is a very common problem, many fraudsters have over the ages tried to cheat people saying they can reduce the numbers. It is only logical that no exercises or medicines can decrease the length of the eyes and these measures do not work. It harms the child psychologically as he/she feels he is not normal. You just need to explain to the child that the variation in the length of the eyes is just like the normal variation in the height in all human beings and those glasses are not a severe disability.

Myopia in adults

The minus no. in adults will most likely remain stable until you get a cataract when it will increase again.

The no. can be corrected with spectacles, contact lenses or lasik surgery. Lasik surgery works only between the age of 20 and 40. After the age of 40, you will have to wear glasses for near even if you have had lasik. So, if you are planning to get surgery, do it as soon as the no. stops increasing.

Myopia also means that you can have thinning of the retina and weak areas in the peripheral retina. This can lead to retinal detachment in a small percentage of cases.This is more likely if you have a family history of retinal detachment.So all myopic patients should get a peripheral retinal check-up by a retinal surgeon to know if you have weak areas in the retina. The weak areas can be easily treated with laser if required. This can prevent a bigger complication like retinal detachment in the future.

Dr. Jagruti Desai ( M.S. Ophthalmology )

Oculus eye hospital
Tel. 9820094152, 9819983158