Myopia Control | Calgary | Eye on Evanston

Seeing Clearly

Clear vision is important to your child’s everyday life. When children aren’t able to focus on objects in the distance, it can affect how they learn and play.

Myopia affects nearly 30% of Canadians and typically starts in childhood, but usually stabilizes by age 20. Myopia can get worse with age and leaving it untreated can put your child at risk for issues like retinal detachment.

Regular eye exams can help detect myopia and slow down its progression.

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What Is Myopia?

You may have heard myopia referred to as nearsightedness. This means nearby objects are seen clearly and far away objects are out of focus.

When your child’s eyes are developing, the eyeball can become too long or the cornea can have too much curvature. When light enters the eye, it can’t focus properly and vision becomes blurry.

If myopia is left untreated, it can progress to high myopia resulting in a longer length of the eyeball. Important tissues can begin to stretch to accommodate the growth. The retina may be stretched very thin, leading to serious complications, including retinal detachment and myopic macular degeneration.

What We Can Do to Help

We can create a plan to control your child’s myopia by detecting signs in the early stages of visual development. Myopia control management involves interventions that are available for us to slow down progression of myopia. Most of these interventions create peripheral defocus thereby reducing the elongation trigger for the eye.

MiyoSmart

MiyoSmart lenses by Hoya Vision have been shown to slow myopia progression by up to 60%. These lenses use the patented and award-winning Defocus Incorporated Multiple Segments (D.I.M.S.) technology.

The refractive error is corrected in the central focus area of the lens, while the surrounding defocus area of the lens manages myopia. These areas work together simultaneously and at any distance.

MiyoSmart lenses are designed to fit comfortably for your child’s active lifestyle. If you would like to discuss how MiyoSmart lenses could benefit your child, please contact us.

Soft & Hybrid Multifocal Contact Lenses

There are special types of soft contact lenses that work to limit the elongation of the eye by focusing peripheral light in front of the retina. These are disposable soft contact lenses worn during the day. Multifocal contact lenses have been used in myopia control.

MiSight 1-day contact lenses by CooperVision are a specialty daily disposable contact lens for children that reports up to 59% success in slowing down the progression.

Myopia Management Lenses by ZEISS

ZEISS MyoVision Pro is an innovative single vision lens designed for children 6–12 years old. These unique lenses have a central visual field responsible for correcting the refractive area and providing your child with clear distance vision, while the periphery of the lens helps control and slow the progression of myopia.

MyoKids by ZEISS is another myopia management specific lens designed for children 6–12 years old. The top half of the lens provides your child with clear distance vision, and the bottom active zone supports your little one with near vision tasks.

Myopic eyes don’t always correctly focus when looking at a close-up object. This can send a signal to the eye, telling it to elongate. The active zone of MyoKids lenses helps the eye focus and slow the elongation of the eye, decreasing myopia progression.

Orthokeratology

Orthokeratology, also known as ortho-k for short, are specialty contact lenses that help reshape the cornea and thereby correct myopia. These are rigid lenses worn at night. The lenses reshape the cornea while you sleep.

Atropine Eye Drops

Studies show that instilling low-dose atropine drops daily decreases progression of myopia. Atropine causes thickening of layers of the eye thereby strengthening the integrity and providing resistance to further elongation of the eyeball.

This treatment can be combined with above treatments if necessary. Side-effects of atropine include blurred near vision, less accommodation (focusing ability at near distances), and pupil dilation resulting in light sensitivity. The side effects can be managed by lowering the dose of atropine.