Myopia Management
What is myopia?
Myopia is an eye condition more commonly known as short-sightedness. For people with myopia, distant objects appear blurry. 1 in 3 people in the UK are affected by myopia.
Myopia can develop at any age, although typically starts to develop in children between 6-13 years old and progresses as the eyeball grows. Anyone can develop myopia, however if both parents are myopic, their child has a 50% chance of becoming short-sighted and even if neither parent is myopic, their child has a 25% chance of developing myopia.2
What are the symptoms of myopia?
If you are becoming short sighted, you may notice that distant objects start to look out of focus. For example, the TV screen might appear blurry or you might struggle to see the board clearly in class.
How do I know if my child has myopia?
Children often do not realise that their eyesight isn’t perfect and there are a few key things to look out for. Your child may regularly rub their eyes and blink a lot, sit too close to the TV, struggle to see the whiteboard at school and complain of headaches or eye strain.
In some cases, there are no symptoms, which is why regular check ups with your optometrist are so important. We encourage parents to bring children in for eye examinations from a young age, no later than age 3 or 4.
Why is this important?
There is nothing more important than the health and well-being of your child. As well as visual difficulties, myopia can cause health problems in later years. A highly short-sighted person can be more susceptible to eye conditions such as glaucoma, retinal detachments and myopic maculopathy, which can all cause significant loss of vision, and can even lead to blindness.
What can we do about it?
There are a range of specially designed products available which research shows could help with the development or progression of myopia, including spectacle and contact lenses
References
- NHS: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/short-sightedness/
- Mew-May Wu M, Edwards MH. The Effect of Having Myopic Parents: An Analysis of Myopia in Three Generations. Optometry and Vision Science. 1999 Jun 1;76(6):387–92
- McCullough SJ, O’Donoghue L, Saunders KJ (2016) Six Year Refractive Change among White Children and Young Adults: Evidence for Significant Increase in Myopia among White UK Children. PLoS ONE 11(1)
- Holden BA, Fricke TR, Wilson DA, Jong M, Naidoo KS, Sankaridurg P, Wong TY, Naduvilath TJ, Resnikoff S, Global Prevalence of Myopia and High Myopia and Temporal Trends from 2000 through 2050, Ophthalmology, May 2016,123(5), 1036–1042. . Holden BA, Fricke TR, Wilson DA, Jong M, Naidoo KS, Sankaridurg P, Wong TY, Naduvilath TJ, Resnikoff S, Global Prevalence of Myopia and High Myopia and Temporal Trends from 2000 through 2050, Ophthalmology, May 2016,123(5), 1036–1042
- Chamberlain P, Back A, Lazon P, et al. Three-year effectiveness of a dual-focus 1 day soft contact lens for myopia control. Presented at the 40th British Contact Lens Association Clinical Conference and Exhibition; 10 June 2017; Liverpool, United Kingdom.
- Lam CSY, Tang WC, Tse DY, Lee RPK, Chun RKM, Hasegawa K, Qi H, Hakanaka T, To CH. Defocus Incorporated Multiple Segments (DIMS) spectacle lenses slow myopia progression: a 2-year randomised clinical trial. British Journal of Ophthalmology. Published Online First:29 May 2019. doi: 10.1136/ bjophthalmol-2018-313739
Important information
The results of myopia management intervention vary for each child and are not guaranteed. It is difficult to accurately measure the improvement as it is not known how myopic your child would have become without myopia management.
The treatments are safe and are currently some of the best available options for slowing the progression of myopia.
Myopia management treatment needs to continue until your child’s eyes have stopped growing.
SchoolVision
Help with reading
If your child (aged 5 -14) has any of the following problems:
- Has difficulty reading
- Is falling behind at school
- Complains of headaches or words jumping or moving
- Reads letters incorrectly or omits them
- Follows the text with their finger
We may be able to help with our specialist Schoolvision service. The Schoolvision assessment programme has been developed to correct early sight problems that are often not picked up in a standard sight test.
Children falling behind with their schoolwork can sometimes become frustrated. Disruptive behaviour at school can occasionally follow. Some children can be mislabelled as dyslexic or as having Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), when visual problems could actually be the real cause of their difficulties.
When neither eye is dominant text can appear to move as the eyes compete with each other. Our Schoolvison assessments aim to help reduce these difficulties by using tints and prisms to reinforce the dominant eye and allow comfortable, stable vision for reading. The assessment can have a positive impact on your child with improved performance with their reading and schoolwork.
DW Roberts Schoolvision programme
The schoolvision programme is designed to:
- Improve your child’s reading speed and concentration
- Improve your child’s classroom behaviour / attention
- Increase your child’s self-esteem and confidence
If our initial NHS sight test has identified that the Schoolvision programme is appropriate for your child, a Schoolvision assessment can be arranged and carried out by one of our qualified Schoolvision optometrists. Regular assessments will then be carried out at 3 to 6 monthly intervals for up to 24 months. The Schoolvision assessment programme is a private service not covered by the NHS. Many of the tests carried out in the Schoolvision assessment are not included in the NHS eye examination.
If you would like to book a Schoolvision assessment or simply find out more about the service including costs please contact your nearest DW Roberts practice.
DW Roberts have been carrying out Schoolvison assessments for children with reading and learning difficulties since 2012. During that time we have helped over 800 patients mainly children but a few adults have benefitted from the service too. Most of these have significantly improved their reading speeds and reported increased self-confidence.
