Children tend to develop myopia (nearsightedness) during the early school years, but it can develop sooner or later than this time. It tends to increase steadily throughout elementary school, and significant increases may occur during “growth spurts.” After adolescence the progression of myopia usually subsides but significant increases in nearsightedness may occur even after this point. Several treatments, such as wearing overnight rigid contact lenses, chronic dilating drops, bifocal lenses and eye exercises, have been tried to slow down the progression of myopia, but none of them has yet shown significant effectiveness.
In this condition, distant objects appear blurred but near objects are clear. Children will usually squint to see things in the distance, or they may complain of difficulty seeing the chalkboard in school.
Myopia is mainly caused by the eyeball being longer than normal from front to back. Myopia can be inherited but is also influenced by growth of the eye.
Myopia is corrected by wearing minus or conclave lenses; glasses are worn by children and either glasses or contacts can be worn by adults. Patients with high myopia are at an increased risk for retinal detachment and should have yearly dilated eye exams. Refractive surgery such as LASIK can permanently reduce or eliminate myopia, but it is not recommended for anyone under the age of 18 years.
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