Myopia Control in San Mateo

Name: Optical Illusions
Address: 194 Hillsdale Shopping Center, San Mateo, CA, 94403
Telephone: (650) 341-8080

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We Can Slow the Progression of Nearsightedness

Many individuals who develop myopia, or nearsightedness, as they find that their vision is not stable until they are well into adulthood. Prescriptions may change year after year during adolescence, with the outlook seeming worse off for their visual abilities.

But there are treatments for this issue; it all depends on finding the right treatment for each individual case.

The Growing Risk

Unfortunately, myopia has become increasingly common around the world. While an exact cause has not yet been determined, much research has been done on the best ways to correct and control the issue.

Types of Myopia Management

Myopia may be common, but there is help available to manage it. If you’re struggling with myopia, we’ll recommend various management techniques and prescriptions to slow down its progression, including:

Orthokeratology

Orthokeratology (Ortho-K) contact lenses are specially designed to reshape the corneal surface while you sleep, improving your vision throughout the day without the use of either glasses or contact lenses. The results you achieve may be reversible, but continued use of Ortho-K contacts can help keep reduce the effects of myopia on your vision.

Peripheral Defocus Contact Lenses

As your eye grows longer, light may surpass the boundaries of your peripheral retina, creating hyperopic defocus in that area. We offer contact lenses that help focus light in front of your peripheral retina, creating peripheral defocus and slowing myopia.

Atropine Therapy

Low-dose atropine eye drops is a common prescription for managing myopia. As myopia progresses, your eyes can grow longer in length, further preventing light from focusing on your retina. Atropine drops can help slow this growth, reducing the rate your myopia develops.

Myopia Control to Prevent Future Troubles

Myopia can cause financial strain, troubles in school, and other problems for the families and individuals who are dealing with it. Each 1.00 diopters of myopia also exponentially increases the risk of macular disease, cataracts, and retinal detachments which can lead to permanent vision loss.

Symptoms of Myopia

There are ways to tell if you’re experiencing symptoms of myopia, even if you have never been to an eye exam. The first problem you would be able to spot would be that distant objects are becoming harder to see. If you are finding yourself squinting a lot to read text far away from you, you could have myopia.

You could also experience headaches if your eyes are myopic. Seeing far distances can cause your eyes to strain and lead to headaches. If you believe your vision might be causing your headaches, be sure to book an appointment with our optometrist as soon as you can.

Other symptoms can include:

Needing to sit closer to your television, computer, or theatre screens to see better
Blinking a lot
Needing to rub your eyes frequently

Childhood Myopia

Myopia often develops in children, but a lot of the time, parents might not know that there is a problem. This means it’s up to the parents to look for the signs of myopia, such as squinting or having to sit up close to the television or computer screen to see clearly.

Some studies have shown that parents may be able to help slow the development of your child’s myopia by limiting screen time. Modern entertainment revolves almost exclusively looking at digital screens, and this can harm your child’s vision.

If you or your child have myopia, it’s important to address it early. Please contact us today for more information about myopia and how we can help slow its progression.