By 2050, it is estimated that half of the world's population will be short-sighted, or myopic. The myopia pandemic is a global phenomenon that was brought into the spotlight shortly after COVID-19. The prevalence of short-sightedness increases drastically when more people are encouraged to work from home, and students need to study using their iPads or computers instead of in a classroom. Unlike COVID-19, this pandemic doesn’t seem to be slowing down. This has raised a lot of concerns not just for parents, but also for governments and global health organizations.
What is myopia and how do we fix it?
Myopia, or short-sightedness, is when objects that are closer to us are clear, and distant objects appear blurry. This happens when light passing through our visual system focuses before it reaches the back of our eyes, the retina, thus creating a blur. People with myopia can make distant objects clear by using spectacles, contact lenses, or undergoing refractive surgery such as LASIK or ReLEx.
With such an easy fix, why do we need to try to control it?
Seeing blurry distant objects is not the only problem with myopia. Myopia increases the risk of many ocular diseases, such as glaucoma, cataract, macular degeneration, and retinal detachment, all of which can lead to blindness. NO! Refractive surgery does NOT improve your ocular health! It only helps you see more clearly. So even after you get your ReLEx surgery, you are still at risk of retinal detachment and may still go blind. By controlling the rate of progression of myopia, you lower the risk of all these ocular diseases that come with it.
Why are myopic eyes more prone to ocular diseases?
Think of your eyes as two balloons. As you blow more air into the balloon, it gets bigger—that’s like myopic eyes. Eyes that are so big that light focuses before it hits the light receptors at the back of the eyes, causing light to defocus by the time it reaches the back of the eyes. Balloons that are bigger are also thinner; thinner balloons are more vulnerable to breaking, just like thinner eyes in myopia
How does myopia control work?
Myopia control attempts to keep the eyeball small and slow down the elongation of the eyeball. The most popular technique is myopic peripheral defocus, where light that comes in straight focuses on the back of the eyes for the best clarity of vision (clear zone), but peripheral light focuses in front of the back of the eyes, creating a myopic peripheral defocus to provide stimuli for the eyeball to remain the same size (treatment zone). If the eyeball grows bigger, the area of peripheral defocus will be even more defocused. To prevent that from happening, the eyeball will slow down its growth—thus, myopia control. This technique can be done with myopia control contact lenses, special Ortho-K contact lenses, or myopia control spectacle lenses.
My kid is short-sighted! What should I do?
Get a comprehensive eye exam, make sure the prescription is accurate, and rule out any underlying binocular vision problems (learn more). Get good documentation of ocular health.
Get appropriate management for their problem; if accommodative problems or binocular dysfunction (ocular function problems) are found, myopia control may not be recommended. Your optometrist may choose to treat other issues before pursuing myopia control.
After starting myopia control management, a follow-up every 3–6 months is recommended to track myopia progression, during which management strategies may change.
