Myopia is the most common cause of vision impairment in children and young adults. With rapidly increasing prevalence, it is predicted that by 2050, half the world's population will be myopic. The Himalayan Eye Institute is proud to have instituted the first Myopia clinic in North Bengal, where advanced technology and research is devoted for control and treatment facilities of myopia. The OA-2000 Optical Biometer (Tomey, Japan) and the Pentacam® (Oculus, Germany) offer the quickest and most comprehensive measurements of the child's eye, helping the doctor to detect the cause of myopia progression. Our Crystal Opticals makes available the most advanced myopia control glasses and contact lenses from the best brands in the world, tailormade for the child according to their requirement.
Myopia or short sightedness is a type of refractive error in which the light rays come to focus in front of, instead of on, the retina. This makes distant objects blurry, while near objects are seen clearly.
It is most commonly due to abnormal elongation of the eyeball (axial myopia). Most commonly, a child's myopia is diagnosed when the school teacher notices that the child is not able to read the blackboard from back benches, or the child is noticed to move too close to television or other objects to read things.
Family history of myopia, excessive near work (especially screen time), limited outdoor activities increase the risk of increasing myopia. For young children, using too much phone/tab from a very short distance is one of the most important causes of rapidly increasing minus power.
Myopia can be corrected by glasses and/or contact lenses.
Rapid progression of myopia may need myopia control therapy in the form of eyedrops (low dose atropine), specially designed myopia controlling glasses or contact lenses, exercises, and lifestyle modifications (increased outdoor activities, limited near work with adequate breaks, proper posture).
The progression of myopia as well as certain measurements of the eye are recorded to identify the type of myopia, as well as monitor its progression once myopia control therapy has been started. This test measures the length of the eyeball, as well as curvature and thickness of the cornea, among other parameters. It is completely painless, and feels just like clicking a photograph.
A comprehensive myopia oriented eye checkup at the myopia clincic includes detailed history taking (to detect risk factors for myopia development), measuring the eye's vision, power, accomodation/ focussing capabilities by our senior optometrist. A precision measurement of the eyeball length and corneal curvature are noted. A retina examination is performed to rule out any developing retinal pathology. After this detailed checkup, the doctor and optometrist suggest a myopia control plan tailormade for the child.
A growing child's power should be checked every 6 months till his/her power becomes stable.
Sometimes, if refractive error remains uncorrected from an early age, the vision may remain low in one or both eyes even after wearing glasses at a later period. This is known as lazy eye or amblyopia. If detected early, it can be corrected with the help of glasses as well as certain exercises such as occlusion therapy.
High myopia (> -6 D) increases the risk of retinal problems such as retinal detachment, myopic maculopathy. Periodic retina checkup is recommended for the same. Myopia control therapy from an early age prevents the child's eye from becoming highly myopic.
Wearing glasses constantly is essential for myopic children in order to see clearly, as well as for better visual and neurological development. For older children, contact lenses is also an option. Once power becomes stable and the age is more than 18 years, removing the power with the help of laser (LASIK) or implantable contact lenses (ICL) is also an option.
Myopia (short-sightedness), a major cause of visual impairment, commonly onsets in young, school-age children and progresses into adulthood. Kumar Aryan, a 17 year boy from Siliguri, has been suffering from myopia. He was selected in the Kolkata Striker team in Junior IPL event held in Dubai. Wearing specs was very much inconvenient for him and was a major barrier in pursuing his passion for cricket. He was advised to visit The Himalayan Eye Institute. Our Sr. Optometrist trained in Contact Lens procedures recommended high quality silicone hydrogel soft Toric Contact lens for Aryan. After demonstration and one month trial, Aryan, adjusted very well with the prescribed contact lens and also learned how to take care of the contact lenses. Playing for his team in Dubai, he took 5 wickets in the Junior IPL matches. Interestingly, research study suggests that myopic children should be encouraged to spend more time outdoors (and leave the cell phone and other electronic devices at home or in their pockets!). Doing so just might decrease their risk of becoming nearsighted - or slow the progression of their current level of myopia.
This 5-year old girl visited our hospital recently with her parents for a family eye check-up for the first time. Our optometrist Anupam Sanyal was surprised to diagnose her as a high myope with severe visual impairment in both eyes (FC3mN24). At our Myopia clinic she underwent a detailed eye examination including cycloplegic refraction, BSV, Retina check up, axial length calculation with optical biometry and corneal topography test by Pentacam. Finally she was prescribed high index single vision glasses (more than -10.00 D) by Dr. Supratik Banerjee and also counseled for contact lens. Good vision is essential for a child to succeed in school. It has been estimated that as much as 80% of the learning a child does occur through eyes. Addressing avoidable blindness and visual impairment among children therefore is our top priority.
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