Myopia Management, what is it?
Myopia (nearsightedness) is when the patient will be able to see up close but have difficulty seeing far objects. As nearsighted children grow, so do their eyes, as well as the prescription. As the length of the eye (axial length) gets longer this increases the risk of ocular diseases and complications later in life, as well as increases the thickness of their lenses.
Traditionally we treated myopia with regular glasses and contacts. These correct the blurry vision but would do nothing to help with the increase of myopia. Now with new technology we can help slow down the progression of myopia. This is known as myopia management (myopia control).
There are 4 different modalities that are used in myopia management. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, but each achieve ~50-60% decrease in progression if the patient is fast progressing.
The options are:
Atropine eye drops used before bed.
Special soft contact lenses worn 10hrs/day for 6 days/week.
Special glasses lenses worn like typical glasses.
Orthokeratology lenses worn over night.
Research is showing more and more that these options are to be used until they are ‘graduated’ from myopia management which can be up into their college years.
Efron N, Morgan PB, Jones LW, Nichols JJ. Topical Review: Bibliometric Analysis of the Emerging Field of Myopia Management. Optometry and Vision Science. 2021;doi:10.1097/opx.0000000000001766