Nearsightedness is growing
Myopia is growing alarmingly worldwide, especially in East Asian populations. There are estimates that by 2050, half the world’s population will be nearsighted. However, there’s some promising news in sight, at least for children. Effective interventions for myopia management and reduction have appeared in the form of MiyoSmart glasses.
MiyoSmart glasses can potentially curb your child’s myopia progression by an average of 60% and are now available in New Zealand from John O’Connor Optometrists.
How do MiYOSMART lenses work?
Very basically, in a normal eye light entering the eye from straight ahead focuses perfectly on retina, so you have crisp, clear distance vision. In a myopic eye, light rays focus in front of the retina instead of on the retina.
Children’s eyes change and when the eyeball grows fast and becomes too long, or the cornea is too curved and thick, images that should focus on the retina focus in front of it. This causes blurred distance vision.
It is the growth or lengthening of the eye that causes a child’s myopia to increase.
To put it another way, the axial length (and thereby shape) of the eyeball is affected by where an image is projected in relation to the retina. If a projected image is always in front of the retina, the axial length of the eye becomes shorter. So, if images can be projected both in front and on the retina at the same time, both axial growth and therefore myopia progression can be controlled.
So, how do we do this? Well, a very clever way would be to signal to the eyeball to stop growing too ‘long’ and clever researchers have discovered that if light enters the eye from the side (peripheral vision) and is focused in front of the retina, this appears to send a strong signal to the eye to stop growing so quickly.
These clever eye people then developed a very clever lens – MiYOSMART lens.
The lens has a centre button in the lens that has the child’s full prescription, so they can see clearly in the distance. However, surrounding the centre are also 400 hundred small ‘lenslets’ – they look like dimples on a golf ball. These lenslets alter the peripheral vision and allow some of the light rays to focus further forwards inside the eye which signals to the eye to slow down it’s growth.
MiYOSMART lenses appear to help nearsighted kids
Results of a three-year study show the MiYOSMART lens can slow and in some cases halt myopia progression. MiYOSMART lenses were found to reduce the progression of myopia for 60 percent of children aged eight to 13 years who took part in the study. In addition, the new lenses completely stopped further vision loss in 21 percent of trial participants.
A growing need to slow myopia
Near-vision strain can occur when someone looks at anything close up, such as cell phones, tablets, and computers. Studies also show that more time spent outdoors can reduce the risk of myopia. However, as lifestyles have changed and young people are spending more and more time indoors, myopia is becoming an epidemic. Technologies like these smart lenses can help reduce the incidence of the life-altering effects of the progression of myopia.
Safe, smart lenses for busy, active kids
MiyoSmart® lenses are safe. Designed for children, they are made from thin, light material, are impact resistant, and come with UV protection, vital in New Zealand. Their water-repellent and anti-reflective coating make them easy to maintain and wipe clean.
MiYOSMART lenses can help
Early, customised intervention myopia control plans have proven that the progression of myopia can be significantly slowed down or even stopped, and the subsequent risks from associated diseases also reduced.
Get an eye test
Early diagnosis of myopia can save your child’s sight. Book an eye test by calling our Newmarket optometrist on 09 522 1283, Henderson Optometrists on 09 836 1731 or sending us an email via our contact page. What is myopia? We’d be happy to talk you through the causes and discus how MiYOSMART lenses can help your child see life more clearly.