Ways to stop kid's myopia (short-sightedness)?

[Leo12345]

Hi!

My daughter is now 7 years old.

1 year ago she was diagnosed with myopia about 0.5 each eye.
Now we came for the test and she already has -2.0

I myself have had myopia since the age of 10 and it progressed from about -1.5 to -5.0 (I am 41 now). When I was child, I did different exercises for the eyes and even attended special course several times a week: I was reading my book for one hour and the nurse would change lenses in my glasses once in 5 minutes (lences from +5 to -5 in steps of 1 dioptre).

Now, I am afraid the myopia of my daughter can progress very fast.
Opticians say she just needs to change glasses - that's it, they even did not want to give me referral to the GP. They say it is 'normal' etc. - they absolutely don't care, just humiliating.

And I am absolutely sure that if I come to our GP, he will say the same: don't worry, use glasses, come for the eye test next year.

But I do worry, because once myopia reaches high values it may lead to retina detachment. And as far as I know, myopia can never 'improve', you can only slow it down. Because myopia is caused by the eye-ball growth, it can never contract back.

If each year it will worsen 1.5 dioptres (like this year), in 10 years she will develop -17.0!

We are now in our family trying to put strict control on how our daughter reads (and she loves reading and wants to read a lot). I am considering buying very large computer monitor, so she will be able to read e-books from 2 meter distance (when the eye is not focused on close objects, the accomodation muscle is not strained and the eye-ball growth does not occur).

Are there any private clinics in Greater London which specialise on stopping myopia progress with children?

Do you have similar problem with your kids? What do you do? Just each time wait for another year to visit the optician and see the vision worsened by another 2 dioptres?

I'm an optom too and this very recent article is very good if anyone fancies a read.
www.reviewofoptometry.com/continuing_education/tabviewtest/lessonid/110590/

Increasing myopia is usually due to an increase in the length of the eye. There must be some basis in the close/work hypotheses (so the eye elongating to adapt itself to see close things more clearly) as the proportion of children/adults with myopia has increased so much in the last 20 year or so.

I always recommend

1. Close vision breaks - look away at something in the distance every few minutes when either reading or using the computer.
2. Adequate outside play, especially if the child hasn't played out much at school that day.

The evidence for soft bifocal contact lenses if fairly good in older children. 8+
Otho-K too has had some good results.

For the case encountered, the longer the axis of the label, or the higher the power of the trance, the higher the lens, the image of the previous warning, the eye is inaccurate because of seeing the scene at a distance (over 5m). Need for a lens to clear the eyes, when the lens is used.

I tried a method of eye 'training' to try and improve my vision. I can't remember what it was called but it involved sort of staring at dots on a page or something.

I have to say that my vision did seem a bit better immediately afterwards but it gave me a terrible headache.

And it said in the instructions that if you wanted to keep up the results you had to never ever wear glasses again. That was no good for me, I find it really hard to accurately judge distances without my glasses on so I almost got run over the next time I tried to cross the road.

I started wearing glasses aged 8 I think, my vision got worse till I was about 15 and it's stayed much the same ever since. Now I'm 41 it's getting slightly better!

I think my last glasses prescription was -12 and -15 or something.

I was Mushroom3 above, my daughter's prescription remains unchanged. She is still using Ortho-K.

@Fairylea

Please don't restrict her reading or make such a huge deal about this. You'll give her a complex.

Myself and my mum have very very short sight. I'm -9.50 in both eyes and my mum is -13. I wear contact lenses now which I love and have done since 11 but I started to wear glasses at 4. Eyesight doesn't uniformly deteriorate. It may change for a while and then not at all.

Retinal detachment is a risk but it is rare and they can treat it as long as it is picked up quickly - my uncle was treated for this last week. No problems.

I think you are overreacting a bit to be honest.

May I ask if you have ever tried any myopia management like using Othro K lense? Thank you so much

@mushroom3

My 12 year old has had Ortho k lenses since the beginning of the year. She has had no progression in her myopia, at her age you would typically expect her prescription to increase. I'll pm you Leo.

Could you please share your experience with Othro K? Has this helped a lot? Thank you

Ds1 has needed glasses for short sightedness twice. Both times its been a very very week prescription and both times his vision has "corrected" itself within a year.

I was always told short sightedness stops getting worse in your 20s. However, I'm 37 and mine are still deteriorating.

DS2 has had glasses since he was about 7. Last year his prescription had over taken mine and he's now in "thick lens" territory. I think he's a 2.5/3. The optician said getting kids outside playing for an hour a day and off screens can help. No idea how true that is, but the fact his eyes deteriorated so much during the covid/homeschooling on the computer all day period makes me wonder. And she won't be making any extra money from telling me that.

I kind of figure though, that eyes are what they are. My Grandparents were all short sighted. I'm short sighted. DS' Dad is short sighted. My brother is short sighted. So it's hardly a surprise that DS is.

@marne2

My daughters gets worse with every eye test, we were told it will level out at around 13/14, she's been wearing glasses since she was 5 and is now almost 11. We trust what the optician says, last time we went she was told to read in the evenings with her old glasses to help exercise her eyes and it may stop them getting much worse.

Could you please let me know what's the prescription your child have now? Have you had any myopia management? Thank you

Oh ffs. Just realised this is a zombie thread!

@user1484040234

I was Mushroom3 above, my daughter's prescription remains unchanged. She is still using Ortho-K.

How long has she been wearing it now? Does it help a lot? Thanks

@CiaoForNiao

Oh ffs. Just realised this is a zombie thread!

Yes, however this thread is relevant to me now. Im eager to learn

@CiaoForNiao

Ds1 has needed glasses for short sightedness twice. Both times its been a very very week prescription and both times his vision has "corrected" itself within a year.

I was always told short sightedness stops getting worse in your 20s. However, I'm 37 and mine are still deteriorating.

DS2 has had glasses since he was about 7. Last year his prescription had over taken mine and he's now in "thick lens" territory. I think he's a 2.5/3. The optician said getting kids outside playing for an hour a day and off screens can help. No idea how true that is, but the fact his eyes deteriorated so much during the covid/homeschooling on the computer all day period makes me wonder. And she won't be making any extra money from telling me that.

I kind of figure though, that eyes are what they are. My Grandparents were all short sighted. I'm short sighted. DS' Dad is short sighted. My brother is short sighted. So it's hardly a surprise that DS is.

Thanks for the reply.

Have you tried myopia management like using Othro K lenses? How fast has your son's myopia progressed? Thanks

If each year it will worsen 1.5 dioptres (like this year), in 10 years she will develop -17.0! This is based on a false premise. As others have said, and I can bear out, myopia increases relatively rapidly in children and then stabilises in adults and the change becomes less rapid.

The chances are though that the people you are quoting and asking aren't around any more. Or have name changed and will never know you've asked them. You'd be better off starting a new thread.

I’m very short sighted (-7.50) and my daughter is going the same way.

She wears ‘my sight’ contact lenses. I believe there’s evidence that using them early helps slow down deterioration.

My DD has also had great results with Ortho-K lenses. Her myopia was picked up when she was 7 and was already at -3.75 and -4.00 by the time she was 11. Her optician said it was likely it would deteriorate further, especially during the teenage years when there is rapid growth, and recommended she start wearing Ortho-K lenses.

She has worn the lenses since she was 11 (4 years) and her myopia has not increased at all. As the lenses reshape the eye while she is asleep, she does not need to wear glasses during the day, which she loves. She will carry on wearing the Ortho-K into adulthood to stop her myopia from progressing any further and is planning to have laser surgery during her 20s.

It took her a while to get used to the lenses. They are quite uncomfortable but once she has closed her eyes to sleep, they don't bother her. She puts them in at bedtime. She also leaves them out once in a while but then has to wear glasses the next day as her sight will not have corrected.

@OhYouBadBadKitten

That sounds uncomfy :( were they overnight wear only?

I’ve worn ortho k for 17 years. I love them. They are uncomfortable to start with but no probs once you get used to them. I don’t know how a child would get on with them. Depends on maturity/ hygiene like any other child with contacts I would think. My optician suspects it had stopped the progression of my myopia but I won’t stop wearing the long enough for my optician to find out by how much

@CiaoForNiao

The chances are though that the people you are quoting and asking aren't around any more. Or have name changed and will never know you've asked them. You'd be better off starting a new thread.

I understand, I was hoping if they might still reply. Thanks for sharing your experience, have you considered the Othro K lenses?

Thank you

what's the minimum age of wearing Othro K? Could you wear this for more than 15 years? Could you still go swimming etcs? Thank you

This thread is from 2014!

This thread is from 2014!

And thus a perfect opportunity for the OP in question to give an update on whether she managed to stop her daughter's short sightedness by great parenting? So curious!!

I've never heard of othro K lenses. I presume they aren't available on the NHS and I can't afford to get them privately. So probably not.

@User5490453456

This thread is from 2014!

And thus a perfect opportunity for the OP in question to give an update on whether she managed to stop her daughter's short sightedness by great parenting? So curious!!

That's what I'm hoping for

@CiaoForNiao

I've never heard of othro K lenses. I presume they aren't available on the NHS and I can't afford to get them privately. So probably not.

Probably check with the GP?