Slowing Myopia: Contact Lenses or Glasses?
Stronger prescription glasses can clear up blurry distance vision, but some children with myopia can benefit from vision correction that does more. Certain contact lenses and eyeglass lenses can correct vision while also helping slow myopia progression.
These treatments form one part of a broader myopia management plan. Along with a comprehensive pediatric eye exam at Friedman Optometry Inc, families can learn which options may suit their child’s prescription, eye health, and needs.
Myopia Management Options
Myopia, or nearsightedness, develops during childhood as the eye grows too long from front to back, causing light to focus in front of the retina.
Certain lens designs can also influence how light reaches the retina in ways that help slow myopia progression.
Myopia management can include different treatment strategies based on a child’s clinical needs. Here, we’re focusing on three forms of vision correction used for myopia control.
Overnight Contact Lenses
Orthokeratology, or ortho-k lenses, are specially fitted rigid contacts worn during sleep. These lenses temporarily reshape the cornea, the clear front surface of the eye. Children remove them in the morning and can see clearly throughout the day without glasses or daytime contacts.
Ortho-k also changes how light focuses across the retina, which can help slow myopia progression.
Daily Disposable Contacts
MiSight 1-day lenses are soft, daily-disposable contacts designed to correct vision and slow the progression of nearsightedness in children. Its optical design includes alternating vision correction and treatment zones.
Myopia Control Glasses
Essilor Stellest lenses provide a glasses-based alternative to contact lenses. The center of the lens corrects distance vision, while a surrounding pattern of small lenslets creates myopic defocus to help slow the progression of myopia.
Consistent wear according to the prescribed schedule is an important part of treatment.
Which Lens Option is Right for Your Child?
Age is only one consideration. Prescription, eye health, corneal shape, myopia progression, contact lens readiness, activities, and personal preference can also influence which forms of vision correction are appropriate.
Choosing Contacts or Eyeglasses
Ortho-k involves wearing contact lenses at night and leaving the eyes free of correction during the day. MiSight moves contact lens wear into daytime hours. Stellest keeps the familiar routine of wearing glasses.
A child who enjoys glasses may feel comfortable with a glasses-based treatment. Another may prefer contacts for sports or other activities. Clinical suitability comes first, followed by practical factors that can help a child use their prescribed treatment consistently.
Children’s Vision Correction in Culver City
Myopia management looks beyond the prescription a child needs today. Monitoring progression over time helps the eye care team decide whether treatment is working as intended and whether a child’s plan needs to change as they grow.
Book an eye exam at Friedman Optometry Inc to discuss your child’s myopia and learn which vision correction options may be appropriate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Ortho-K Permanently Correct Myopia?
Ortho-k temporarily reshapes the cornea during overnight wear. Children need to follow their prescribed wearing schedule to maintain the vision-correcting effect.
Do Stellest Lenses Look Like Regular Glasses?
Stellest technology is built into the eyeglass lenses, allowing children to receive their prescribed vision correction and myopia control through glasses.
How Is MiSight Different From Regular Contacts?
MiSight 1 day corrects nearsightedness while using dedicated treatment zones to help slow myopia progression. Standard contact lenses primarily correct the refractive error.
Does My Child Need Follow-Up Visits?
Yes. Myopia can change as the eyes grow. Follow-up visits allow the eye care team to monitor vision, eye health, myopia progression, lens fit when relevant, and response to treatment.