Support Your Child’s Vision and Eye Health with Kids’ Optometry Services for Myopia Control

When children are faced with vision issues and threats to eye health, pediatric eye care, and kids’ optometry become a primary focus. Carmel, Indiana pediatric eye care from Little Eyes™ optometry clinic supports kids’ eye and vision health with a range of options to slow the progression of myopia (nearsightedness) and the need for stronger and stronger prescriptions.

Some of the top solutions for Carmel children’s optometry needs include myopia control measures such as orthokeratology (Ortho-K), soft multifocal contact lenses, and atropine eye drops.

Myopia Control Lenses

While many first time glasses wearers are excited for the experience of wearing glasses and contact lenses, the reality of the responsibility and hassle tends to fade that excitement for many patients fairly quickly. No parent wants to hear that their child cannot see well, so we move forward with the best options we have: glasses and contact lenses. But what if you could slow the progression of your child’s nearsightedness? What if they could wear a special retainer lens at night, and not need glasses during the day? With orthokeratology, we can do both!

Orthokeratology, also known as OrthoK, Corneal Refractive therapy or treatment (CRT), and gentle vision shaping treatment, is an amazing way to reshape the front surface of the eye to minimize a patient’s dependence on glasses or contact lenses. A customized retainer lens that is manufactured according to each patients’ eye curvature, rate of slope and eye size is manufactured to use their own tear layer to reshape the eye. The retainer lens is worn while the patient is asleep, so the eye is gently adjusted in shape to reduce the prescription, and when the patient awakes and removes the retainer lens, they have typically 20/20 vision! But wait, there’s more. The reshaping of the cornea in this unique way actually slows the progression of myopia (nearsightedness), so that most patients consistently wearing OrthoK retainer lenses have mild to no prescription changes each year. For kids whose eyes get worse every year, this is incredible!

Soft Multifocal Contact Lenses

Another viable and effective option for myopia control in children is soft multifocal contact lenses. These disposable lenses are worn during waking hours for vision correction. While they do not have the reversing effect of orthokeratology, they can reduce myopia progression by nearly 50 percent in most children.

Multifocal soft contact lenses offer the best of all worlds: the correction of both distance and close vision, slowed myopia progression, and no need to wear glasses. Multifocal contact lenses work like progressive eyeglass lenses, featuring a smooth, gradual change in the lens prescription from the close vision prescription to the one needed for distance. The fact that they are disposable ensures safety and cleanliness.

Atropine Eye Drops

Atropine is a topical eye drop that is effective in stopping or dramatically slowing myopia progression. It is offered in low concentrations of 0.001% to ensure that it is safe for use with children. Atropine eye drops are administered nightly and available by prescription from your Carmel pediatric eye care specialist.

Low dose atropine drops like the ones offered by Little Eyes™ do not have the risk of side effects that can sometimes be associated with atropine eye drops (pupil dilation, blurred near vision, and sensitivity to light.) Follow up appointments will help to ensure that low concentration 0.001% atropine eye drops are slowing myopia progression in your child with few, if any, side effects.

Vision health and development is crucial to so many other areas of life – learning, doing well in school, and enjoying a high quality of life. Children diagnosed with myopia at a young age could face progressively worse prescriptions into their teen years and adulthood.

Fortunately, there are proven ways to slow its progression. Contact our Carmel pediatric eye care specialists to learn more about myopia control solutions such as orthokeratology (Ortho-K), soft multifocal contact lenses, and atropine 0.001% eye drops.