Myopia Control

Myopia control methods like orthokeratology (ortho-k) lenses can slow the progression of nearsightedness by more than 50%. At Dearborn Eyecare in Dearborn, Michigan, Bashir Tarraf, OD, and his team offer ortho-k, soft contacts, specialty glasses, and pharmaceuticals that can slow your myopia progression to help you enjoy better vision throughout your life. Myopia control may even help you avoid vision loss, so don’t delay in calling the office or clicking the online booking tool to learn more.

What is myopia control?

Myopia control is a group of treatments that slow down the progression of nearsightedness. While you can’t reverse myopia, you can prevent it from worsening through myopia control. 

When you’re very nearsighted, you may need to update your eyeglasses or contact prescriptions frustratingly frequently. Myopia control can stabilize your vision and help you see better. 

Significant myopia increases your risk of cataracts, glaucoma, and retinal detachment, so myopia control can also reduce your risk of vision problems or even vision loss.

Who might need myopia control?

There are approximately 80 million children with myopia worldwide today. When a child experiences myopia early in life, they often have a high risk of myopia progression until about age 18. 

Most myopia control patients are children because that’s the time period when people are most vulnerable to rapid myopia progression. Children can start myopia control as early as age 6 (and up to age 12) to prevent the progression into significant myopia. 

Some adults also experience myopia progression even after achieving temporarily stable vision at the end of their adolescent years. While adults may need different methods of myopia control, they can also be good candidates for this type of treatment. 

How does myopia control work?

When you have myopia, your eye doesn’t refract (bend) light properly because your eyeballs are too long. Light focuses just in front of the retina instead of directly on it, which is what leads to fuzzy near vision. 

Myopia control refocuses light, allowing it to reach your retina. That improves your vision and prevents further eyeball elongation (and worsening myopia). 

Dearborn Eyecare offers several types of myopia control, including:

• Soft contact lenses: daily disposables or overnight lenses
• Orthokeratology (ortho-k): hard contact lenses worn overnight only
• Specialty glasses: lenses that improve focus on the retina
• Pharmaceuticals: low-dose atropine eye drops

Children can respond well to any of these treatments. In adults, the best option for myopia control is often multifocal lenses that contain multiple vision zones. Some adults opt for ortho-k lenses or atropine instead.

If you’re experiencing myopia progression, Dearborn Eyecare can help you find a myopia control solution that works for you. To learn more, call the office or click on the online appointment feature now. 

Learn More about Myopia Control via the resource links below:

https://www.mykidsvision.org/en-us

https://www.reviewofoptometry.com/article/myopia-treatments-how-to-choose-and-when-to-use