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Specialties & Treatments

Childhood Myopia Control

Is your child myopic?

If your child can see near objects clearly but distant objects appear blurry, he/she is most likely to be myopic or short-sighted.

What happens in the eye in myopia?

The length of the eyeball is longer than it should be. As a result, light rays entering the eye focus in front of the retina rather than on it. 

Who are at risk of myopia?

There are many reasons why the eyeball would grow longer than it should and cause myopia. The risk of a child developing myopia is higher if one or both parents have myopia.

Environmental causes such as excessive near work (eg: phones, iPads and reading) contribute an even larger role.

Myopia usually develops in children from age four and can continue to worsen until they reach theirlate teens, after which the condition usually stabilises.

We start to screen children from four years old as children are more cooperative during the eye test and we are picking up myopia already at that age. From our audit, the speed of increase of myopia is greatest 7-9 years of age from more reading and homework too.

Singapore has the highest prevalence of myopia worldwide. 30% of Singapore children are myopic at the start of primary school at age 7 and this prevalence increases to more than 80% at age 16. 

Why bother to control Myopia?

Myopia is not just about wearing glasses. Myopia is a disease. As myopia increases, the risk of developing other sight-threatening eye conditions increases too. Therefore, by reducing the level of myopia, we reduce the risk of your child developing these conditions:

In myopia, the eyeball is elongated longer than usual and this stretches the retina. As the retina thins, it may tear, and in more serious cases, detachment of the retina may occur. This is a medical emergency as this condition can lead to blindness if not promptly treated.

Eye pressure in our eye keeps the shape of the eye. However, severe myopia may cause a rise in eye pressure that when left untreated, can lead to significant loss of vision.

High myopia increases the chance of developing cataracts earlier in life. Cataract reduces vision with the clouding of the natural crystalline lens in the eye.

Macula is the most visually important part of the retina that is responsible for sharp central vision. High myopia may put your child at higher risk of developing macular degeneration, a condition that impairs the central vision.

The EyeClinic by Dr Cheryl Lee has been specially set up with a doctor lead team and optometrists to achieve the best myopia control results for your child. We want to see your child’s myopia stabilise as soon as possible.  Parents are surprised at how we can stop the child’s prescription from  increasing. 
 
The secret is our team spends undivided time with your child, explaining and discussing myopia. We get your child involved in his eye care. We also have the flexibility of advising the best treatment for your child as we have the widest range of solutions for myopia control. 

“Myopia is irreversible and progressive so control it when it is detected at the lowest power to stop it.
Treatment outweighs the risk.”

What are the treatment options?

There are various treatment options available:

  1. Myopia Control Glasses
  2. Ortho-K (Orthokeratology)
  3. Myopia Control Eyedrops (different concentrations)
  4. MiSight® (daily disposable myopia control contact lenses)

Sign up for a Eye Screening for Children package (includes a consult with Dr Lee)