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Myopia Management
Our myopia Management service is about slowing, or stopping, the increase in myopia (short sightedness) of growing children – usually with specially designed contact lenses.
Myopia Management for children is important because myopia:
Makes glasses heavier and more expensive.
Increases the risk of glaucoma and blindness.
Makes sport participation harder (if glasses are needed)
Makes laser surgery harder and more invasive.
We have been providing myopia management for over 12 years and have a large number of successful wearers, including our own children. Frequently, the myopia stops progressing when lens wear starts and we recommend this therapy highly for all young myopes particularly from age 5-6 when serious progression usually begins.
If you have not picked it up before, our comprehensive eye examination of your child will identify if they are myopic. We will then advise on which of the available myopia management strategies would be best.
We can provide gas permeable Ortho-K lenses which are worn only at night. These act on the cornea and mould it safely to give clear vision during the day. Ortho-K lenses have huge advantages in that: the lenses never leave the house so it’s harder to lose them; the wearer has natural clear vision all day so they’re great for sports like swimming and the tear film isn’t affected. While these gas permeable hard lenses may feel a bit uncomfortable at first, most youngsters soon get used to any discomfort and prefer this to wearing lenses or glasses during the day.
We also provide MiSight contact lenses which are soft lenses worn during the day. They are similar to multi focal soft lenses and are very comfortable. A six year study proves their effectiveness in slowing myopic gain.
There are a number of other soft lenses (similar to MiSight) on trial currently which will become available soon. We monitor developments in the area of myopia management continuously so we can advise you on the best approach for your child. If you would like further information on Myopia management treatment options you may wish to refer to the Brien Holden Vision Institute (BHVI) website.
BHVI is a not-for-profit research & development organisation working in the ophthalmic space with particular expertise in Myopia management. Their BHVI Myopia Calculator tool shows the various management options/scenarios and demonstrates the possible benefits, over time, of starting to treat myopia progression.
There has been significant progress in the use of new and innovative spectacle lenses for Myopia management. We offer Essilor Stellest spectacle lenses which have been shown to slow Myopia progression by 50% on average in trials on children. We also have MiYOSMART spectacle lens from Hoya with a similar effectiveness.
