Is Childhood Myopia Treatable?

Parents constantly worry about their child’s health, but something that often goes under the radar is their eyesight, as it is difficult to know whether your little one is struggling with their vision.

However, the number of children who are developing myopia, or shortsightedness, is growing, and more than a quarter of youngsters aged two to 17 years old needed to wear glasses or contact lenses in 2019.

This could lead to serious eye conditions in adulthood, such as glaucoma, cataracts or retinal detachment. This might also have an impact on other areas of their life, including achieving good grades or having a successful career.
That is why it is essential to book an appointment with a qualified optometrist for your children in order to detect myopia early and enable them to see better.

The good news is that there are some great new myopia management measures that can be recommended and that can help reduce the progression of myopia, which can mean they can avoid serious defects as they get older.
For instance, we can recommend special types of spectacles lenses and/or contact lenses, or they could have atropine eye drops. Alternatively, they could undergo repeated low-level red light therapy.

There are some other things parents can do to help manage their child’s shortsightedness, including making changes to their lifestyle. For instance, spending at least two hours outdoors a day can delay myopia.

It is also important to limit screen time or focusing on anything for too long, as this can increase the risk of developing myopia.