Prevention Of Myopia Progression - Steps To Be Taken For Children!

Myopia or nearsightedness is regarded as the most common refractive error of the eye and it has become even more prevalent in recent years.

Now, this problem is being noticed to a great extent among children. On one hand, where the cost of eye exams on an annual basis along with new glasses can be a financial constraint for certain families, the long-term risks that are associated with myopia progression can be far greater.

Before going ahead to look at some of the steps which children must take, in order to prevent the occurrence of Myopia, let us see what are signs and symptoms which lead to Myopia:

Signs and Symptoms:

When any child is nearsighted, then he or she will face problems like:

1. Difficulty in reading signs on the roads
2. They would be able to see distant objects every clearly
3. May come across headaches
4. Fatigue

Steps Which Children Must Take

There are certain steps, which should be followed by children and though would be helping in preventing the progression of myopia:

1. Reduce The Time Spent on Doing Work Close to the Eyes: Parents should make sure to reduce the time, which children spend playing games on mobile phones, along with other handheld games and activities related to computers. Children must be encouraged to take breaks after every 30-40 minutes of near work like reading or writing.
2. Increase The Time Spent on Outdoor Activities Every Day: There is increasing evidence of the fact that outdoor activities lead to the delay of children getting affected by myopia. So involvement in outdoor activities in natural sunlight must be increased. Children must be encouraged to involve themselves in fun-filled activities that involve body movements to increase physical strength and fitness levels.
3. Healthy Eye Care Habits Must be Encouraged:

Some of the healthy habits include:

1. Make sure that there is sufficient light in the room
2. While reading, children must make sure to hold their books around 30 cm away from their eyes.
3. While they use a computer, the monitor screen must be 50 cm away from their eyes.
4. The 20-20-20 rule of the Computer Vision Syndrome must be followed. This basically suggests that if a child works with a computer more than seven hours each and every day, they should take a 20-second break to look at an object that is 20 feet away after every 20 minutes. This would prevent eye strain.
5. Another effective habit that one should develop is the exercise of palming. This should be done from time to time by covering the eyes with one’s hands to give them rest for a brief period. It not only helps to rest the eyes but also allows to ease off tension in the whole body.
6. Children Must be Taken for Yearly Eye Check-ups:

Even if a child gets screened for myopia in his or her school, it is still a good idea to take them for a check-up in case they complain of headaches, squint or blurred vision.

One thing which everyone must ensure is to always go ahead to show problems related to the eye, like myopia, to an eye doctor, who is better known as an Ophthalmologist rather than going for any Optician. An Optometrist is perfectly trained to provide eye as well as vision care. He or she is able to perform eye examinations like evaluating the eye muscle balance to detect problems related to double vision and hence prescribe corrective lenses to correct those problems.

One should also make their children undergo a retina examination, which allows an eye doctor to evaluate the back of their eyes, including the retina, the optic disc and the underlying layer of blood vessels, which provide nourishment to the retina. This is especially important in myopes who have higher incidence of vitreous jelly degeneration and predisposed to peripheral retinal degeneration and breaks which lead to retinal detachments and potential loss of vision.

• Adopt a Healthy Lifestyle: with balanced diet, adequate rest n relaxation and physical fitness.

Interventions to Reduce Rapid Progression of Myopia in Children

1. There are increased amount of efforts being undertaken to reduce the progression of myopia in children because of the rise in the incidence of myopia worldwide and the sight-threatening implications associated with the problem.
2. Interventions are basically aimed towards reducing myopia in childhood and include environmental considerations, use of spectacles, contact lenses and pharmacological agents.  
3. Out of these interventions, atropine has shown the maximum dose-related effect on controlling the myopia progression. Though high doses are associated with side-effects like pupil dilation, near vision blur, loss of accommodation and rebound phenomenon, atropine in low dose has been proved to be effective in effective control of Myopia with a minimum amount of side-effects along with rebound.

To some extent, Bifocal or progressive glasses or  Soft Contact Lenses have also been proved to be effective in reducing the progression of myopia, hence they could be tried out by children, who are suffering from the same.