Nearsightedness, also known as myopia, is the most common refractive eye error in the world. People who have myopia struggle to see objects that are at a distance, as they appear out of focus but can clearly see things that are less than at arm’s length. The number of people who suffer from myopia is growing every year, but the most significant increase in numbers has come from young people, with research suggesting that the number of children and young adolescents developing myopia has doubled in the last half century.

What causes myopia?

Myopia normally begins to develop in childhood and occurs as a result of the eyeball becoming too long or the cornea too curved. These problems change the way that light is refracted by the eyeball, causing it to be fall short of the retina, which is the part of the eye at the very back that sends messages to the brain to tell us what we can see.

Living with myopia can be inconvenient and frustrating, particularly for young children who may not necessarily understand why they need to wear prescription lenses to improve their vision or find that their eyewear impacts their ability to take part in certain activities. Contact lenses offer children greater flexibility when it comes to correcting their vision without compromising their quality of life. However, it’s not only managing the day to day impact of myopia that’s important.

Slowing the progression of myopia

Myopia is a progressive condition, meaning that your child’s eyesight will deteriorate unless they have treatment. Slowing or halting the progression of myopia is strongly recommended by eye doctors. This is because studies have found that patients who develop severe myopia (high prescriptions) are more likely to develop potentially sight-threatening conditions in the future. These conditions include glaucoma, cataracts, macular degeneration and detachment of the retina. Slowing the progression of myopia could help to reduce your child’s risk of experiencing these issues when they are older.

MiSight® Contact Lenses

MiSight® contact lenses are the first ever contact lenses to be approved and licensed for myopia control in children. In addition to correcting their vision so that they can see clearly at all distances, these lenses use ActivControl® technology, which was developed by CooperVision, the makers of MiSight® lenses. ActivControl® has been proven to help inhibit the progression of myopia by combining distance correction zones with peripheral treatment zones. These treatment zones create a myopic retinal defocus that slows the progression of myopia.

MiSight® contact lenses are specifically designed for children, are easy to handle and look and feel just like regular contact lenses. They are daily disposables, meaning that your child can just throw them away at the end of each day, rather than having to worry about the complexity and hassle of a robust cleaning routine. Children can begin to start wearing MiSight® lenses as young as 8 years of age. Every patient is assessed on an individual basis for their suitability for this treatment.

If you would like to find out more about MiSight® contact lenses for treating myopia, our dedicated and knowledgeable team at  NVISION Eyecare would be delighted to help. Please call our office at 09-884-0034 to schedule a consultation.