Nearsightedness: What Is Myopia?

What is myopia? Myopia, or nearsightedness, is when your eyes do not focus light correctly so distant objects appear blurred while close objects appear ... 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MyopiaControlinChildren MyopiaVideosandInfographics Nearsightedness:WhatIsMyopia? LeerenEspañol: Visióndecerca:¿Quéeslamiopía? ByDavidTurbert ReviewedByMichaelAPuenteJr,MD EditedByDanielPorter Sep.22,2022 Nearsightedness(myopia)iswhenclose-upobjectslookclearbutdistantobjectsareblurry.Forinstance,youcanreadamapclearlybuthavetroubleseeingwellenoughtodriveacar. Video:HowtheEyeWorks Nearsightedness:MyopiaTypes Nearsightedness:MyopiaSymptoms Nearsightedness:MyopiaCauses Video:Nearsightedness(Myopia) Nearsightedness:MyopiaDiagnosis Nearsightedness:MyopiaTreatment Nearsightedness:MyopiaPrevention AdditionalInformationAboutMyopia Nearsightednessisacommoneyefocusingdisorder.Ithasbeenontheriseforseveraldecades.Itisestimatedthatby2050,nearlyhalfthepeopleintheworldwillhavenearsightedness. Video:Howtheeyeworks Nearsightedness:MyopiaTypes Highmyopiaandlowmyopia.Mildnearsightedness(generallylessthan3dioptersofmyopia)isalsocalledlowmyopia.Moderatenearsightednessormyopiais3to6dioptersofmyopia.Severenearsightedness(morethan6dioptersofmyopia)isalsocalledhighmyopia.Nearsightedchildrenusuallybecomemorenearsightedastheyage,buttheirglassesprescriptionusuallystabilizesintheir20s. Nearsightedness:MyopiaSymptoms Someofthesignsandsymptomsofmyopiainclude: eyestrain, headaches, squintingtoseeproperly,and difficultyseeingobjectsfaraway,suchasroadsignsorablackboardatschool. Youngchildrenwithmyopiamightnotcomplainabouttheirblurryvision,soeyeexamsandvisiontestsareimportantinyoungchildren.Somekidsarebornnearsighted,andsomedon’tbecomenearsighteduntiltheirteenyears. Nearsightedness:MyopiaCauses Foryoutoseeclearly,lightraysmusttravelthroughthefrontlayersoftheeye(thecorneaandlens).Thecorneaandlensworktogethertobendthelightsoitlandsonthebacklayeroftheeye,calledtheretina.Theretinathensendsasignaltoyourbrainthatallowsyoutosee. Withnearsightedness,theshapeofyoureyepreventslightfrombendingproperly,sothatlightisaimedinfrontofyourretinainsteadofonyourretina.Forexample,thecorneaatthefrontofyoureyemaybetoosteeplycurved,oryoureyemaybelongerfronttobackthannormal.Ineithercase,thelightraysfallshortoftheretina.Whenlightisnotfocusedontheretinaasitshouldbe,yourvisionisblurry. Video:Nearsightedness(myopia) Riskfactorsfornearsightedness.Ifaparentisnearsighted,thereisagreaterchancetheirchildwillbeaswell.Butaparentdoesn’tneedtobenearsightedfortheirchildtobenearsighted.Doctorsstilldon’tcompletelyunderstandwhysomepeoplearenearsighted.Therearelikelymanyfactorsinvolved,andgeneticsisonlyonepart. Nearsightednessisoftendiscoveredinchildrenwhentheyarebetweenages 8and12yearsold.Duringtheteenageyears,whenthebodygrowsrapidly,myopiamaybecomeworse. Betweentheagesof20and40,thereisusuallylittlechange. Toomuchtimespentindoorsincreasesachild’sriskfornearsightedness.Studiesshowthatmoretimeoutdoorsinnaturallightreducesachild’srisk. WhatAretheLong-TermRisksofNearsightedness? Detachedretinaandnearsightedness.Peoplewithnearsightednesshaveahigherriskforadetachedretina.Thisiswhenthetissueliningthebackofyoureyeliftsawayorseparatesfromtheeyewall.Itisaseriouseyeproblemthatcancauseblindness.Itisimportantforpeoplewithseverenearsightednesstovisitanophthalmologistregularlyforexamstochecktheretina.Themoresevereyournearsightednessthegreateryourrisk.Askyourophthalmologisttodiscussthewarningsignsofretinaldetachmentwithyou. Peoplewithseverenearsightednessalsohaveahigherriskofdevelopingglaucoma,cataractsandothereyediseases. Nearsightedness:MyopiaDiagnosis Aneyedoctordiagnosesnearsightednessaspartofacomprehensiveeyeexamination. Inpatientsoldenoughtoreadthelettersonaneyechart,yourophthalmologistcanuseamachinecalledaphoroptertomeasureyourglassesprescriptionanddiagnosenearsightedness. Inapatienttooyoungtoreadthelettersonaneyechart,yourophthalmologistcanuseadevicecalledaretinoscopetomeasurewherelightisbeingaimedinsidetheeye.Thisallowsanophthalmologisttomeasureayoungchild’sglassesprescription. Nearsightedness:MyopiaTreatment Eyeglassesandcontactlenses.Eyeglassesorcontactlensesareeasy,commonwaystocorrectnearsightedness.Theyhelptofocuslightontheretinainthebackofyoureyesothatyoucanseemoreclearly.Overtime,youwillneednewprescriptionsasyoureyeschange. Therearemanyoptionstoconsiderwhenbuyingglassesorcontacts.Talkwithyourophthalmologistaboutthelenschoicesthatbestsuityourvisionandlifestyleneeds. Refractivesurgery.Inadultswithnearsightedness,sometimesthenearsightednesscanbefixedwithrefractivesurgery.Thetwomaintypesofrefractivesurgeryarerefractivelasersurgeryandrefractivelensexchange.Inrefractivelasersurgery,alaserreshapesthecorneatoadjusthowlighttravelsthroughit.Herearesomeofthemorecommonprocedures: LASIK, Epi-LASIK, PRK, SMILE Inrefractivelensexchange,anophthalmologistremovesthenaturallensinsideyoureyeandreplacesitwithanartificiallens.Thenewartificiallenshelpstoaimlightattheretinainthebackoftheeyesoyoucanseemoreclearly. Aswithanysurgery,refractivesurgerycarriesrisksofcomplicationsandsideeffects.Forinstance,afterhavingarefractiveprocedure,youmayseeglareorrings(halos)aroundlights.Youmightalsohavepoornightvision. Talkwithyourophthalmologistaboutyourvisionneedsandexpectations.Togetheryoucanexploreyouroptionsforachievingbettervision. Nearsightedness:MyopiaPrevention CanIPreventorSlowtheProgressionofNearsightedness? Agreatfirststeptopreventorslowtheprogressionofnearsightednessistoencourageyourchildtospendmoretimeoutdoors.Balancingindoortimewithoutdoortimeisbeneficialforachild’shealthandwell-being.Outdoortimeisprotectiveagainstnearsightednessandagoodprescriptionforeyehealth. Orthokeratology(ortho-k).Orthokeratology(orortho-k)useshardcontactlensestotemporarilyflattenthecorneaandreducenearsightedness.Patientsmustsleepinhardcontactlenseseverynight.Thereisariskofserious,visionthreateningeyeinfectionswithorthokeratology. Eye-dropmedicinethatslowsnearsightedness.Dailyuseoflow-doseatropineeyedropsslowstheprogressionofnearsightednessinchildrenandteenagers.Thedropsareplacedineacheyeatbedtime.Thesedropskeeptheeyefromlengtheningtoomuch,becausenearsightednessworsensastheeyegrowslonger. Manypediatricophthalmologistshavestartedprescribinglow-doseatropine.Patientsmustusethedropsonceadayforseveralyears.Thesedropsstoporslowtheprogressionofnearsightednessin80percent(8outof10)ofchildren.Sideeffectsofatropinedropsatlowdosesmayincluderednessoritchinessaroundtheeye. Contactlensesthatslownearsightedness.Peripheraldefocuscontactlensesarespecialcontacts.Theyaremadeforchildren6to12yearsofagewithnearsightedness.Theselenseshavedifferentareasoffocus.Thistypeoflenslookslikeadartboard,withmultiplecirclesinsideofeachother.Thecenterofthelenscorrectsblurrydistancevision,whiletheouterpartsofthelensblurthechild’speripheral(side)vision.Blurringsidevisionisthoughttosloweyegrowthandlimitnearsightedness. Thesecontactsmightnotworkinallcases.Buttheselenseshelpcertainchildren.Thisincludeschildrenwhoseparentsarenearsightedandwhoseownnearsightednessisgettingworse. Likeanycontactlens,thereisariskofgettingacornealinfection.Besureyourchildcancorrectlywear,clean,andstorethecontactlensestoavoidinfection. AdditionalInformationAboutMyopiaTreatmentandPrevention Thereisnoscientificevidencetosuggestthateyeexercises,vitaminsorpillscanpreventorcuremyopia.Downloadandsharetheseeducationalposters,infographicsandvideostospreadtheinformationaboutmyopiaanditsprevention. NextMyopiaControlinChildren RelatedAskanOphthalmologistAnswers What'sthebestIOLtopreservenearvisionaftercataractsurgery? Sep06,2022 IsitpossibletogetLASIKforfarsightednesssinceIhavepreviouslyhadnearsightednesscorrection? Mar17,2022 Whatare"normal"resultsofaneyeexam?Otherthan20/20,whatarenormalaxisandspherenumbers? Nov03,2021 Willhighmyopiaeverstabilizeandifso,atwhatagedoesthishappen?Canpeoplewithhighmyopiaexpecttoliveanormallifeanddothingslikedriveacarandworkaregularjob? Nov03,2021 WhenshouldIwearglassesfornearsightedness? 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