By Steve Roberts
Contact lenses for children worn only while sleeping can help children overcome the greatly increased risk of suffering from myopia otherwise known as short-sightedness. Traditionally, it has been assumed that myopia is an inherited condition requiring one or both of a child's parents to have the condition. However, recent research in Optometry and Vision Science drawn from a study undertaken in China shows that a high proportion of children with myopia do not have highly myopic parents, indicating that environmental as well as genetic factors contribute to the development of the eye condition. Indeed, half of the children in the study with high myopia (prescription greater than -6.0 diopters) had parents with no myopia.
However, the study also found that more severe parental myopia carries an increased risk for myopia developing in children, with a one and a half times' increased risk for developing the condition by the age of 12-15 years if children had one parent who reported high myopia. This is where ortho-k corrective contact lenses for children become an important new treatment option not only for correcting short-sightedness but also for preventing it continuing to progress throughout childhood. Once myopia is diagnosed in a child, the eyesight typically continues to deteriorate by around 0.5 diopters annually so that by the time adulthood is reached, a high level of myopia may have developed with an associated increased risk of serious eye health problems in later life.
Ortho-k corrective contact lenses for children gently flatten the surface of the eye during sleep using the mild pressure of closed eyelids and, once removed each morning, ensure that light entering the eyes focuses directly on the retina rather than in front of it. The effect lasts for over 24 hours so the child enjoys perfect natural vision all day long until reinserting the lenses at bedtime each night. Most importantly, as various clinical research studies have shown, the lenses help retain the eye in its vision-corrected shape and - like dental braces on children's teeth - this retention becomes permanent over time. Since myopia occurs when the eyeball lengthens - and worsens if this lengthening continues - then by preventing it from continuing, the myopia does not get worse.
By Steve Roberts
Contact lenses for children worn only while sleeping can help children overcome the greatly increased risk of suffering from myopia otherwise known as short-sightedness. Traditionally, it has been assumed that myopia is an inherited condition requiring one or both of a child's parents to have the condition. However, recent research in Optometry and Vision Science drawn from a study undertaken in China shows that a high proportion of children with myopia do not have highly myopic parents, indicating that environmental as well as genetic factors contribute to the development of the eye condition. Indeed, half of the children in the study with high myopia (prescription greater than -6.0 diopters) had parents with no myopia.
However, the study also found that more severe parental myopia carries an increased risk for myopia developing in children, with a one and a half times' increased risk for developing the condition by the age of 12-15 years if children had one parent who reported high myopia. This is where ortho-k corrective contact lenses for children become an important new treatment option not only for correcting short-sightedness but also for preventing it continuing to progress throughout childhood. Once myopia is diagnosed in a child, the eyesight typically continues to deteriorate by around 0.5 diopters annually so that by the time adulthood is reached, a high level of myopia may have developed with an associated increased risk of serious eye health problems in later life.
Ortho-k corrective contact lenses for children gently flatten the surface of the eye during sleep using the mild pressure of closed eyelids and, once removed each morning, ensure that light entering the eyes focuses directly on the retina rather than in front of it. The effect lasts for over 24 hours so the child enjoys perfect natural vision all day long until reinserting the lenses at bedtime each night. Most importantly, as various clinical research studies have shown, the lenses help retain the eye in its vision-corrected shape and - like dental braces on children's teeth - this retention becomes permanent over time. Since myopia occurs when the eyeball lengthens - and worsens if this lengthening continues - then by preventing it from continuing, the myopia does not get worse.
Check if your child is suitable for ortho-k corrective contact lenses.
