Is Your Child Nearsighted? Ask Us About Myopia Management

Myopia in Riverdale NJ refers to the inability to see objects at a distance clearly. Approximately 40 percent of children develop myopia, also known as nearsightedness, by age 17. When someone is nearsighted, it means that the eyes grow too long in axial length. Some people also have a curved cornea or lens of the eye that bends too much compared to the length of the eyeballs.

Myopia ranges from mild to severe, and those on the milder end of the spectrum may not need any vision correction until the condition becomes more advanced. However, Riverdale Vision Care recommends treating any degree of vision problem as quickly as possible. This is the best way to ensure that your child can keep up with schoolwork without vision problems holding them back

Myopia Causes and Symptoms

Children typically acquire myopia through a gene passed along by one or both parents. Signs of the common eye condition usually appear in early childhood and peak around age 20. Other causes of myopia include:

• Diabetes, whether a doctor has officially diagnosed it or not
• Focusing difficulty that results in problems with night vision
• Frequent visual stress, such as staring at screens all day

Some children develop what we refer to as pseudo myopia, which means that they develop blurry distance vision after completing a lot of up-close work. Their vision returns to normal once they return to a more typical workload.

Please schedule an eye exam for your child right away if you notice any of these symptoms:

• Holding a book right in front of their face when reading
• Sitting too close to the television
• Squinting when reading or using the computer
• They complain of blurry distance vision

We will discuss several treatment options with you and your child should we discover myopia in Riverdale NJ.

Myopia Treatment Options

Special contact lenses that train the eyes to see objects at a distance clearly are one option to consider. Another is atropine eye drops, which typically slow the progression of myopia by at least 50 percent over two years. We are happy to discuss these and other myopia treatment options in more detail at your child’s next eye exam.