Myopia Management

Treating Myopia Early Through Detection

Myopia, or nearsightedness, is a vision condition that causes distant objects to appear blurry. It is considered a refractive error, where the light that enters the eye is not focused directly on the retina to produce a clear image.

Unfortunately, myopia can impact more than your visual clarity. Myopia also increases the risk of serious eye complications later in life. With timely detection and intervention, however, we can slow the progression of myopia in children and reduce their risk of eye disease.

Myopia management starts with detection. Book your child’s eye exam today so we can monitor their eye health and vision before they experience issues.

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What Is Progressive Myopia?

Progressive myopia occurs when your vision continues to worsen over time, leading to changes in your eyewear prescription. When myopia begins in childhood, it is almost always progressive. That means, without intervention, it continues to worsen and may even cause blindness.

In progressive myopia, the eyeball grows longer than it should. This elongation worsens eyesight and increases the risk of eye disease, such as retinal detachment, glaucoma, and cataracts, which may cause permanent vision loss.

While any level of myopia carries the risk of complications, high myopia (prescriptions higher than -6.00 diopters) significantly increases the likelihood of developing a serious condition. That’s where myopia management makes a difference.

Why Is Myopia Management Important?

Myopia is common, with about 30% of Canadians affected by it. However, it is expected that myopia will become more prevalent by 2050, impacting an estimated 50% of the world’s population. We’re also seeing an increased rate of myopia in young children than in previous generations.

Along with this rise of myopia comes the increased need for myopia management methods that are effective for different children and different eyes. We provide myopia control methods based on current and evolving research.

We work closely with you and your child to develop a treatment plan that matches their needs, and continue to monitor the treatment’s efficacy throughout the process.

Our Treatment Methods

Our treatments begin before myopia is even detected. We begin protecting your child’s eyes through our comprehensive eye exams, where we use our innovative technology to monitor their vision and eye growth. It’s important to make sure their growth is within normal ranges for their age. If we detect signs of myopia, either physically or in their vision, we’ll work with you to develop a treatment plan.

We offer a variety of treatment options that we’ll recommend based on your child’s age, lifestyle (such as sports or activities), and prescription. This choice will include a discussion with you and your child to determine which option is the right fit.

We believe it is important for your child to have a say in their treatment plan. During our appointment, we’ll include them in the conversation. This includes explaining the treatment methods and reasons in a manner that is age-appropriate. We want your child to understand that the treatment is important and to express their preference for contact lenses or glasses.

BE FREE™ ortho-k contact lenses are worn overnight to gently reshape the cornea so light focuses directly on the retina for clear vision the next day. BE FREE™ lenses use an OTZ® (Optimized Treatment Zone) to target better myopia management in children.

Ortho-k lenses allow kids to go glasses-free throughout the day, while treating their myopia progression overnight. They can be a great option for active kids.

MiSight 1 day lenses by CooperVision are soft, daily disposable contact lenses that use ActivControl™ technology to slow myopia progression.

These contact lenses include two treatment zones and two correction zones to provide clear central vision and create myopic defocus of peripheral vision to slow eye elongation.

Acuvue Abiliti 1-Day lenses are specially designed to control myopia progression in children. These daily disposable lenses are made from a silicone hydrogel material for comfort.

The contact lenses correct nearsightedness for clear vision while managing their myopia. These contact lenses also include Class 1 UV protection to help protect young eyes from harmful UV rays.

Stellest myopia control spectacle lenses by Essilor are designed with a central vision correction zone to provide your child with clear vision and outer treatment zones that work to slow myopia progression. We primarily fit Stellest lenses for children using myopia control glasses.

Stellest lenses use HALT (Highly Aspherical Lenslet Target) technology to slow myopia progression. This includes over a thousand invisible lenslets in the lens, which adjust your child’s peripheral vision to fall in front of the retina, rather than behind like traditional single vision lenses. This sends a signal to the eye that helps slow down myopia progression.

MiYOSMART spectacle lenses by HOYA use Defocus Incorporated Multiple Segments (D.I.M.S.) technology to slow myopia progression. The lenses have a ring around the central vision area that includes this D.I.M.S. technology. This allows the lenses to correct your child’s vision and treat their myopia simultaneously.

We may fit your child with MiYOSMART lenses in their myopia control glasses. Both Stellest and MiYOSMART lenses are available as sunglass lenses as well.

Low-dose atropine eye drops are placed in your child’s eye at night. They dilate their pupils slightly and defocus their vision, helping to manage myopia. We often recommend low-dose atropine eye drops in combination with another myopia management method when better control of axial length is required.

Protect Their Eyes for the Future

Once your child’s eyesight is impacted by myopia, these changes cannot be reversed. While laser eye surgery may be able to correct their vision later in life, it can’t reverse the eye elongation that comes with progressive myopia, and they will still face an increased risk of eye conditions as adults.

Keep your child’s eyes healthy and preserve their vision for the future through myopia control. Start by booking a comprehensive children’s eye exam today.

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Our Services

Clearer Vision, Brighter Future

We help protect your child’s eyes today so their vision is clear and their eyes are healthy for the future.

Our Myopia Management Treatments

Ortho-K Contact Lenses

Ortho-k lenses are worn overnight, gently reshaping the curve of your cornea so you can see clearly throughout the day without lenses.

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Soft Multifocal Contact Lenses

Soft multifocal contact lenses provide multiple prescriptions or powers that help to correct nearsightedness and slow myopia progression.

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