Is your child's myopia increasing rapidly? Maybe you didn't choose the right glasses! Parents must read these 3 points!

Before the age of thirteen, it is an important stage and period for children's visual and vision development.

When parents find that their children's vision has deteriorated, they must take their children to the hospital for a mydriasis eye examination. If the examination confirms that it is true myopia, then treatment measures must be taken.

Many parents will ask, is it better for children with myopia to wear frame glasses or orthokeratology lenses?

Let’s talk about the advantages and disadvantages of frame glasses and orthokeratology lenses.

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01

Children with myopia wear frame glasses

What are the advantages?

What should I pay attention to?

It is generally recommended that children wear frame glasses first after they become myopic. Frame glasses are more acceptable, especially for younger children.

In addition, children are in the stage of vision development. As the eyeball develops, the degree of myopia will develop faster and the lenses will be updated frequently . The advantage of frame glasses is that they can be replaced at any time.

For parents, it is important to choose lenses and frames for their children.

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**First of all, the lens should be of good quality and have the right degree. **To choose the right lens degree, you must undergo medical optometry, which is called mydriasis optometry. Generally, atropine is used to dilate the pupil before the age of thirteen. Atropine is a slow mydriasis drug that fully paralyzes the ciliary muscles and allows them to rest before the degree can be accurately measured.

When choosing a frame, don't just look at the appearance. Make sure the pupil distance is suitable when wearing it. The pupil distance is the distance between the pupils of the two eyes, and each person's pupil distance is different.

Generally, before the age of thirteen, you should go to the hospital for a check-up once a year or six months to measure the pupil distance and test your eyesight to see if your myopia has increased or the pupil distance has changed. If there is any change, you should replace your glasses in time.

Some parents, seeing that their children’s myopia is getting worse, only change the lenses for their children without changing the frames. This is wrong.

Because as children age, their pupil distance will change as their face develops. Some parents don’t change their children’s glasses because their myopia has not improved much. The lenses don’t need to be changed, but the frames need to be changed in time according to the change in pupil distance.

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In addition, frame glasses should be worn every day. Do not take them off and put them on again, which will affect the adjustment of the eyes. Except for sleeping, you should insist on wearing them during the day, especially those with high myopia.

02

Children with myopia wearing orthokeratology lenses

What are the advantages?

What should I pay attention to?

Now everyone talks about quality of life and visual quality.

Sometimes when children are playing outside, it is not very convenient for them to wear framed glasses. The glasses are easily broken during play, and the lenses may pierce the eyes or hurt the children. This is also the problem that parents are most worried about.

Therefore, many parents will choose orthokeratology lenses for their children, especially for active children, orthokeratology lenses are also a good choice.

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**Orthokeratology lenses are generally suitable for children with low myopia, **that is, myopia below 400 degrees. The effect will be better below 300 degrees.

Orthokeratology lenses are also tailor-made based on the condition of the eyes, with the appropriate degree and curvature selected.

The most important function of orthokeratology lenses is to slow down the development of myopia. Because the orthokeratology lenses are directly attached to the eyeball, just like a belly band, they can have some inhibitory effect on the development of the eyeball, so myopia will develop more slowly. It can play a role in preventing and controlling myopia, but it is not absolute. You still need to pay attention to eye hygiene in daily life.

Orthokeratology lenses are generally worn at night. The advantage of wearing them at night is that they are less likely to get infected because your eyes are closed when you sleep and are not exposed to the outside world.

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Wash your hands before going to bed at night and put the lenses on your child, just like wearing contact lenses. Wear them all night and take them off in the morning.

For example, if a child's vision is 0.1, after wearing orthokeratology lenses for one night, his vision can reach 1.0 during the day the next day. He can have very good naked eye vision and no longer needs to wear frame glasses during the day, making life more convenient.

Orthokeratology lenses worn overnight generally only work for one day . For most people, especially those with high degrees, their vision will return to its previous level if they do not wear them the next day. Therefore, they need to be worn every night. Children over six or seven years old usually wear them more often. Children who are too young cannot cooperate and cannot wear them.

Currently, for children, the main ways to correct myopia are frame glasses and orthokeratology lenses. Parents can choose for their children based on the specific situation. Each has its advantages and disadvantages.

Many parents ask, besides wearing glasses, are there any medicines that can treat children's myopia?

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So far, there is no drug in the world that can cure myopia. If a child is young and spends a long time reading at close range, which may cause visual fatigue, atropine can be used to dilate the pupil and give the eyes a rest, which can slow down the progression of myopia. However, there is no drug that can truly cure myopia.

As we all know, myopia can be corrected through surgery. So at what age can a child undergo myopia surgery?

03

At what age can a child undergo surgery to correct myopia?

Because surgical correction of myopia is a one-time process, it is recommended to be done when the child is over 18 years old, because at 18 years old, the child has reached adulthood and his or her body development is basically stable.

Surgical correction of myopia mainly uses lasers. There are two types of lasers. One is the excimer laser, which accurately cuts the cornea at the molecular level; the other is the femtosecond laser, which is rapid laser cutting.

The surgery can be performed entirely with excimer laser, combined with femtosecond laser, or all with femtosecond laser. These three types of surgery have a relatively high market share. The specific one to choose depends on personal situation and degree of myopia.

Produced by: Chinese Medical Association

Author: Li Ying, Chief Physician of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Deputy Director of the Corneal Disease Group of the Ophthalmology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association

Review | Tian Bei, Chief Physician, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University

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