Controlling Myopia with Contact Lenses

Many children with myopia fall into the progressive myopia camp. This means that their myopia, or nearsightedness, will only get worse over time. Understandably, many parents would like to slow the progression of their child's myopia, especially if they are highly myopic themselves.

Recent studies indicate that myopia can be controlled by wearing rigid gas permeable or RGP contact lenses. (Now more eye care practitioners are calling them GP contact lenses.) The contact lens acts as a splint to fortify the front of the eye without affecting the overall corneal shape and reduces myopic progression as compared with wearing eyeglasses or soft contact lenses.

This procedure is slightly controversial, and some eyecare practitioners scoff at the idea. Some studies have shown that this form of myopia control succeeds, while others lack significant findings.

The difficulty in proving that wearing RGPs definitely retards myopia lies in not knowing how myopic (nearsighted) someone would be without such treatment. It's not an exact science: practitioners can't say that your child would have progressed to a prescription of -8.50 diopters if he hadn't worn RGPs to control myopia. But myopia does seem to run in families, and if most of the family members are very myopic, it's not unreasonable to suppose your child will eventually become very myopic as well.

Your child may start wearing RGPs as soon as he exhibits signs of myopia. Depending upon how involved in care parents would like get, children as young as infants and preschoolers can be fitted with contact lenses. As children mature, they are able to tell their parents if they're noticing a problem with their contact lenses. A few years later, they are able to start caring for their lenses themselves.

Speaking generally, children are old enough to wear contact lenses when they are physically able and mature enough to care for them. Keep in mind that some children may not be ideal candidates for contact lenses because of wearing difficulties or adaptation problems.

Wearing rigid contact lenses for myopia control offers no more risks than standard contact lens wear, such as infection, decreased oxygen to the eye or minor corneal injuries due to improper care and handling. The possible benefit of slowing myopia progression outweighs the possible risks. Remember also that myopia control is not a permanent choice. If wearing RGPs for myopia control doesn't work out for you or your child, returning to glasses is always an option.
 

On a related topic, you may have heard about the theory that wearing eyeglasses can encourage development of myopia. But is it true?

A recent study found that wearing eyeglasses does not seem to affect the development of myopia (nearsightedness) in children. This is despite previous studies that have shown eyeglass lenses interfering with vision development in animal eyes.

In the study, published in Optometry and Vision Science, 43 children were given a series of eye exams during three years to measure their progression of nearsightedness. There were four groups: full-time eyeglass wearers, distance wearers, those who changed from distance to full-time wear during the study, and non-eyeglass wearers. No significant difference was found in their rates of progression, except that the earlier the age that nearsightedness began, the greater the progression rate.

Researchers said the discrepancy in results of the human and animal studies may be because the animals tested were usually less mature than the human subjects; also there are significant differences between human eyes and the animal eyes. Researchers added that a larger study is needed before they can conclude that eyeglass wear definitely does not affect myopia progression.

In a study published in the February 2007 issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, progression of nearsightedness appeared to be slower in certain myopic children who wore progressive-addition lenses (PALs) with different zones for seeing at near, intermediate, and far ranges. The finding applied only to children whose parents also were nearsighted.