Myopia Management
Myopia, or nearsightedness, is a common condition where objects at a distance appear blurry. The condition develops during childhood and progresses with age, resulting in poor distance vision and an increased likelihood of developing other eye diseases later in life. However, with myopia management, we limit its progression and impact!
Common Signs of Myopia
Signs that your child may have myopia include:
- 1. Complaints about headaches
- 2. Squinting
- 3. Rubbing their eyes
- 4. Holding objects near their faces or sitting too close to the television
- 5. Closing one eye to read
- 6. Watery or red eyes from struggling to focus
Myopia Detection and Management at Lowcountry
At Lowcountry Eye Care, we can detect myopia with our comprehensive pediatric eye exams. While eyeglasses can correct your child’s vision, they won’t fix the underlying issue of myopia. Our advanced diagnostics can then help us create a custom plan for your child to best treat their unique case to limit myopia’s effects, slow its progression and protect their eyes for the future! We’re also certified to fit MiSight® lenses and offer strain-relieving atropine eye drops to get their myopia under control.
Personalized Myopia Management Plans
With our wide range of state-of-the-art technology and treatment options, our expert doctors create customized myopia management plans for children. We’ll tailor your child’s plan to their specific needs and adjust as necessary if anything changes.
- Advanced Diagnostics
- Expert Doctors
- Specialized Contact Lenses and Glasses
- Atropine Eye Drops
- Essilor® Stellest® Lenses
Advanced Diagnostics
We use advanced diagnostics to catch myopia as early as possible. Once detected, our skilled doctors use our cutting-edge technology to monitor and track the progression of your child’s myopia. The tools at our disposal also help us create personalized management plans that are catered to your child’s unique eyes.
Our doctors aren’t just experts in generalized eye care — Drs. Pitcavage, Shealy, Salter, and Vitta all specialize in myopia management techniques, and are certified to fit MiSight® lenses. With their caring hands and deep understanding of myopia, they’ll create an easy-to-manage, personalized treatment plan that accounts for your little one’s lifestyle.
One-day, disposable MiSight® lenses use a unique design to ease eye strain and help slow the progression of myopia. We also offer specialty glasses for myopia management to achieve similar results. These are excellent options for young children because they can be seamlessly incorporated into their daily life to treat and manage myopia, while simultaneously correcting their vision.
Atropine eye drops are a treatment option used to slow the progression of myopia by slightly dilating your child’s pupil. While they do not correct vision, they are an effective option for easing eye strain and can be supplemented with a comprehensive management plan.
Essilor® Stellest® lenses look like regular glasses but help slow myopia progression while providing clear vision. Their invisible “myopia control zone” works throughout the day to reduce eye elongation and can be seamlessly included in your child’s overall myopia management plan.
Advanced Diagnostics
We use advanced diagnostics to catch myopia as early as possible. Once detected, our skilled doctors use our cutting-edge technology to monitor and track the progression of your child’s myopia. The tools at our disposal also help us create personalized management plans that are catered to your child’s unique eyes.
Expert Doctors
Our doctors aren’t just experts in generalized eye care — Drs. Pitcavage, Shealy, Salter, and Vitta all specialize in myopia management techniques, and are certified to fit MiSight® lenses. With their caring hands and deep understanding of myopia, they’ll create an easy-to-manage, personalized treatment plan that accounts for your little one’s lifestyle.
Specialized Contact Lenses and Glasses
One-day, disposable MiSight® lenses use a unique design to ease eye strain and help slow the progression of myopia. We also offer specialty glasses for myopia management to achieve similar results. These are excellent options for young children because they can be seamlessly incorporated into their daily life to treat and manage myopia, while simultaneously correcting their vision.
Atropine Eye Drops
Atropine eye drops are a treatment option used to slow the progression of myopia by slightly dilating your child’s pupil. While they do not correct vision, they are an effective option for easing eye strain and can be supplemented with a comprehensive management plan.
Essilor® Stellest® Lenses
Essilor® Stellest® lenses look like regular glasses but help slow myopia progression while providing clear vision. Their invisible “myopia control zone” works throughout the day to reduce eye elongation and can be seamlessly included in your child’s overall myopia management plan.
Questions Parents Ask About Myopia
When should my child start myopia management?
Myopia management is worth discussing as soon as your child’s prescription continues to get stronger. Dr. Wes Shealy prefers to start that conversation early rather than wait until a child develops a high prescription.
Is myopia management necessary for mild nearsightedness?
Mild myopia can still progress, so the current prescription is only part of the decision. We also look at your child’s age, how quickly their prescription is changing, family history, and other risk factors. Dr. Shealy often starts discussing myopia management when he first sees a shift toward nearsightedness.
Can myopia management reverse my child’s myopia?
No. Current myopia management treatments do not permanently reverse nearsightedness. Their goal is to slow how quickly myopia progresses while still helping your child see clearly. Because children respond differently, we monitor their eyes over time and adjust the plan when needed.
How do you choose the right myopia treatment?
We match the treatment to your child rather than choosing based on prescription alone. Age, lifestyle, prescription changes, comfort with contact lenses, and daily activities all matter.
We may lean toward MiSight® contact lenses for an active child who is ready for contacts, while a younger child or one who prefers glasses may be better suited to a myopia-control lens such as Stellest®.
Are myopia control glasses better than contact lenses?
Neither option is automatically better. Specialized glasses and myopia-control contact lenses can both help slow progression. The best choice fits your child’s eyes, age, lifestyle, and ability to adapt to the treatment.
Can my child switch myopia treatments later?
Yes. A myopia management plan can change as your child grows. For example, we may start a younger child with specialized glasses and consider contact lenses later if the child becomes interested in them or their lifestyle changes.
How long will my child need myopia management?
There is no single stopping age. Myopia often changes throughout the school years and may continue progressing into the late teens or young adulthood. We monitor your child’s prescription and eye growth over time and use that information to decide when treatment should continue, change, or eventually stop.
Can outdoor time and less screen time stop myopia?
Healthy visual habits can support your child’s eye health, but they should not replace prescribed myopia treatment. Strong evidence shows that time outdoors can help delay the onset of myopia.
For children who already have myopia, Dr. Shealy also encourages regular outdoor time, breaks from close work, and keeping phones or tablets farther from the face.
What if my child’s prescription keeps getting worse?
A prescription that continues moving in the nearsighted direction is a good reason to ask about myopia management. Rather than simply replacing the glasses each time, we can look at the progression pattern and discuss which treatment may be appropriate.
Why Choose Lowcountry Eye Care For Myopia Management?
Not only are we conveniently located in and around the Charleston area, we’re one of the few providers in the region who treat children, and have expert doctors who specialize in managing myopia. You can rest assured your child will feel comfortable and relaxed in our family-friendly offices, with our kind doctors who will make your child feel relaxed and at ease the entire visit! Paired with our advanced tech and state-of-the-art management options, your child is in good hands at Lowcountry Eye Care.
