Eye care tips
Around 80% of the information a child takes in arrives through sight. Progressive myopia affects more than how sharply your child sees into the distance. It shapes how comfortably they learn, how they manage everyday activities, and how they feel day to day.
When to check
Sight develops fastest in the earliest years, so examinations start in infancy and then repeat on a schedule, not only when something already looks wrong.
The first screening of your child’s eyes.
A follow-up assessment as vision develops.
Particularly important if the earlier checks pointed to risk factors for a vision disorder.
A developmental assessment of how your child’s sight is progressing.
Before your child starts primary school.
An examination at the start of each school year keeps the prescription current instead of guessed at.
Who to book with
Three different professionals look after children’s eyes, and they work alongside each other. Knowing which does what makes the first appointment easier to book.
The best results come from all three working together: ophthalmologist, optometrist and orthoptist caring between them for the health and proper development of your child’s vision.
Setting it straight
Myopia cannot be cured, but it can be corrected and its progression slowed. In children it is most often corrected with glasses or with contact lenses. What is worth remembering is that correcting myopia does not, on its own, slow it down. That takes active management.
So it helps to keep two things apart: correcting vision, and controlling it. Beliefs about the first still lead to poor decisions about the second, right down to the choice of glasses.
Myth:
It does not. Full correction is what allows a child to see clearly and function normally through the day: at school, while reading, and outdoors. Under-correcting strains the visual system instead, because the brain has to work to compensate for a blurred image.
Myth:
The belief persists, but the medical evidence does not support it. Myopia usually progresses with age, especially during periods of rapid growth, which is why it needs regular monitoring and active management.
Effective control
Effective myopia control is not a one-time decision about which method to choose, but a long-term process. Optical and pharmacological solutions on their own achieve too little without consistent use, and without attention to the daily behaviour that genuinely affects how myopia develops. The following are crucial:
Correction properly selected for your child’s eyes, so they see clearly through the whole day.
A chosen solution for slowing progression, agreed with the specialist looking after your child.
Vision checks at set intervals, so changes are measured rather than assumed.
Daily habits that support eye health, including your child’s lifestyle and visual hygiene.
In practice this rests on four pillars: proper correction, a slowing method, regular vision checks and daily habits. Only the combination gives the best chance of slowing progression and supporting the proper development of a child’s eyes, now and in the future.
The options
The final choice of method should always rest with the specialist. If single methods fail to produce the desired results, eye care specialists are increasingly choosing to combine them to maximise the chances of achieving the intended therapeutic goal.
The earlier myopia is detected, the greater the chance of slowing its progression and reducing the risk of serious eye diseases in the future. This also means more time to implement appropriate treatment and develop healthy habits that support the proper development of a child’s eyes.
Visual hygiene
None of these replace an examination or a myopia management lens. They sit alongside both, and they are the part that happens at home.
Cut back on how much of the day goes to close-up viewing: the smartphone, the computer and reading held close.
During close work, every 20 minutes rest the eyes for 20 seconds by looking at something about 6 metres (20 feet) away.
Time outside in natural daylight, a minimum of two hours a day.
Shield the eyes from sunlight, and especially so during atropine treatment, for example with photochromic MiYOSMART Chameleon or polarised MiYOSMART Sunbird lenses.
Regular vision checks with specialists, ideally an ophthalmologist and an optometrist, at least once a year.
Where to begin
Three things to do, in order, if you have not started yet.
Notice the signals that suggest a problem with sight: squinting, holding things close, sitting nearer the screen than they used to.
See the signsGather the detail in one place, so the next appointment starts from knowledge rather than from scratch.
Read the guidesA professional eye examination is where conscious management of your child’s vision begins.
Find an optical shopNext step
Find a MiYOSMART centre and talk through the options with an eye care professional.
Talk to the HOYA Team
03-6256 0081
