Myopia Management in Children
(Short Sighted)

What is myopia?

Myopia, or short-sightedness, is a condition that results in difficulty seeing distant objects clearly. Research has shown that the prevalence of myopia in the western world has increased from 20% to 40% in the past 25 years. In many Asian countries the prevalence is as high as 90%. It is estimated that half the world’s population will be myopic by 2050.

What causes myopia?

Myopia usually begins in childhood and is more common in children who have a myopic parent, although sometimes there is no family history. Other influencing factors are ethnicity, environment and spending increased amounts of time doing near tasks, including using smartphones, tablets and computers.

What are the risks of myopia?

The onset of myopia at an early age brings with it the likelihood of lifelong eye care. Increasing levels of myopia are connected with a number of serious eye problems such as retinal detachment, cataract, glaucoma and macular diseases, with the risk of these becoming greater as the myopia increases. This is due to the eye becoming more elongated as it becomes more myopic. Just like a balloon becomes more translucent as you blow it up and the membrane is stretched, the eye’s membrane becomes thinner and more stretched as it becomes more myopic.

How can we reduce the chances of myopia?

A key part of any myopia management is to encourage children to spend more time outdoors – ideally 12 hours or more per week. Studies have shown that by increasing outdoor time in this way helps to prevent myopia onset and development. Reducing the amount of close work done also helps; reduction of screen time and prolonged amount of book work. 

How can we, at Coleman’s Optician help?

Although there is currently no cure for myopia, at Coleman’s we are able to fit your child with contact lenses (MiSight) or glasses lenses (Stellest) to slow down or possibly even halt the progression of myopia. Our eye care practitioners can advise whether your child is suitable to be treated. Every child is different and each treatment is tailored to suit both the child and the type of correction that needs to be controlled.

Both options are £45.50 on a monthly direct debit, more details on these packages can be found below:

MiSight Contact Lenses

MiSight® contact lenses are soft daily disposable lenses that significantly reduce the rate of myopia progression. It is worn through the day as a standard one day soft lens, for a minimum of six days a week.

According to the two year data from the ongoing European study, the unique optics of the MiSight® one day disposable lens have been proven to slow down myopia by 59% compared to the control group. This means that if fitted early enough with this lens, most children will end up with less than half the strength of myopia than if fitted with a conventional contact lens or spectacles.

These are £45.50 per month on direct debit and include the following: 

• All appointments with your optometrist
• MiSight contact lenses delivered direct to your door every 3 months
• Replacement lenses if lost or broken
• Spectacle frame and lenses to the value of £40
• Repairs to spectacle frames (some additional charges may apply)
• 10% off any other purchases made within the practice

More details can be found here on MiSight contact lenses

Stellest Glasses

Stellest lenses are spectacle lenses containing a unique constellation of lenslets, these create a volume of signal into the eye that controls the growth.  This signal helps to slow down the eye elongation and therefore myopia progression. 

Research shows that Stellest lenses slow down myopia progression by 67% on average, compared to single vision lenses when worn every day.These spectacle lenses are £45.50 per month on direct debit and include the following:

All appointments with your optometrist

• All appointments with a dispensing optician
• Spectacle frame up to £40
• Stellest Lenses
• Any prescription changes as necessary
• One pair replaced if lost
• Repairs to spectacle frames (some additional charges may apply)
• 10% off any other purchases made within the practice

More details about Stellest lenses can be found here