Myopia control
As a student I was intrigued by children from the States wearing bifocals. Years later I discovered that this was one of the first methods being trialled to reduce escalating shortsightedness. Unfortunately bifocals in children have a virtually non-existent success rate.
Other methods with slightly better results include multifocal contact lenses, using atropine eyedrops at varying doses and Orthokeratology, in which hard lenses are worn at night.
In parallel, significant research has been conducted into how and why children’s eyes grow, which is the cause of increased myopia.
Aside from needing weaker, thinner and lighter glasses, the advantage of not becoming highly myopic is that there is significantly less risk of myopic side affects, such as retinal detachment, cataract and glaucoma.
Most importantly, research has shown that more time spent outdoors and less time on laptops and phones will make a difference. We sort of knew that, but now it’s official. You have to encourage your children to play outdoors and get off the phone.
MiyoSmart lenses are the result of over five years of research and extensive tests and clinical studies with randomised control trials.
The result is Defocus Incorporated Multiple Segments, known as DIMS. They look like normal lenses but have a peripheral zone of microlenses, known as lenslets, that purposely blur the periphery. This blur destimulates the eye to grow further, therefore reducing the stimulus for myopic change.
Myopia progression is managed by providing clear vision and constant myopic defocus simultaneously. The lenses have a central zone of 9.4mm diameter with normal strength for clear vision, surrounded by an array of 1.4mm lenslets that create peripheral defocus. The visibility of the grid pattern is minimal and the actual lenses are barely distinguishable from standard ones.
The average child spends more than four and a half hours per day on electrical devices, and just 40 minutes outside
60% of parents aren’t aware that time spent outdoors can delay the onset of myopia in children
Over 60% of parents struggle to get their children to leave the house, resulting in a third of parents feeling worried.
Over 70% of parents are eager to get their child outside more, yet over two thirds believe their kids are ‘addicted to screens’.
93 per cent agree screen time has increased significantly since the pandemic.
The average 6 to 16-year-old spends over two hours more a day inside, than they did before the pandemic.