Myopia Management

Myopia or nearsightedness is typically diagnosed in childhood and can progress until the early 20s. It is an irreversible change. If myopia continues to progress, not only does the patient’s vision worsens but it also increases the risk of developing serious eye diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma, retinal detachment, and macular degeneration.

Early myopia intervention can help your child’s vision now and reduce their lifetime risk of serious eye diseases later.

At EYEDEAL EYECARE in Sparta, NJ we specialize in treatments proven to help slow down or stop your child’s vision from getting worse by simply wearing unique contact lenses/ glasses or using a drop.

Research has shown multiple factors that can contribute to increasing myopia progression, such as:

1. Wearing glasses all day can actually cause myopia to progress faster. If your nearsightedness is mild, glasses should only be worn for distance only such as driving, watching TV, or playing sports. Glasses for low myopia are not needed for near vision tasks( texting, reading, homework).
2. Family history plays a role in a child’s risk of myopia. If both parents have myopia, it increases the child’s chance of developing myopia by 6x.
3. The natural growth of eye length causes myopia to worsen as the eye grows and changes shape. This process takes place through the teenage years and slows down by age 20. If we slow down myopia, the “Axial Length” change of the eye should slow down as well.
4. Prolonged near vision tasks such as reading, writing, computer use, smartphone use, etc. has been shown to be a possible cause of myopia progression. Especially if a child forgets to remove his glasses at near tasks.
5. The prolonged use of digital devices has been linked to myopia progression as well. Extended time spent on digital devices can place excessive stress on the focusing ocular system causing eyestrain and myopia progression.
6. Spending limited time outdoors. Lack of sun exposure, vitamin D levels, dopamine levels, and the amount of time a child spends outdoors could have a significant impact on myopia development. Research shows spending more time outdoors lowers the risk of developing childhood myopia.

We have some influence to slow down Myopia progression. It is important to follow certain suggestions that can help to reduce nearsightedness:

• Limit the amount of time you spend on your gadgets.
• Take frequent breaks from screen time— 20-20-20 rule (every 20 minutes, look 20 feet away, for 20 seconds)
• Don’t hold the screen close to your eyes. It should be 18-24 inches away from your face.
• Adjust screen brightness and contrast to make it more comfortable. Should not be too dim nor too bright. Aim for a natural environment for your eyes.
• Blink frequently to keep the eye surface moisturized.
• Spend more time outdoors- Dr. Tanya Mikitchenko recommends 60-80 minutes outside every day.

In addition to the suggestions above, Eyedeal Eyecare can offer a Myopia Management Program to keep the level of myopia as low as possible and reduce the risk of developing a serious vision-threatening eye disease.

can involve the use of eyeglasses, contact lenses, and/or eyedrops all scientifically proven to aid in the control of myopia progression.

Dr. Tanya Mikitchenko highly recommends  Therapeutic  Myopia Control lenses for young kids and adults containing different lens powers throughout the lens. The specific power for near vision reduces stress on the eyes and possibly the progression of myopia.

At EYEDEAL EYECARE it is a preferred method to manage Myopia.

We use specialized Therapeutic Daily Multifocal soft contacts to reduce stains near and give myopic patients freedom from glasses while playing sports and studying in the classroom. The lenses must be worn most waking hours, at least 6 days a week. Patients do not have to wear glasses during the day. The research showed that multifocal lenses were more effective in slowing down the myopia than regular single vision lenses.

It uses a series of hard contact lenses to slowly flatten the cornea and reduce myopia. It involves sleeping in hard contact lenses every night. Vision improvement during the day is temporary. After you stop using the lenses, your cornea goes back to its original shape and myopia returns. Think of it as teeth retainers.

Low-dose Atropine 0.01% has emerged as an effective approach to slow the progression of myopia in children and adolescents. Daily use and recent studies appear promising. However, once this therapy is abruptly discontinued most likely myopia will progress.