TREATMENT TYPES
“You don’t have to just watch your child continue to become more nearsighted.”
– Dr. Dwight Barnes
How do I know which treatment is right for my child?
Mainly, choosing a treatment type is dependent on preference and lifestyle. Our Myopia Control Clinic was established with the goal of keeping childrens’ eyes healthy by limiting the progression of myopia. We can perform diagnostic testing to help determine which treatment is most appropriate for your child. In certain cases, a combination of treatments may be recommended.
What is Overnight Sight?
Overnight Sight (also can be referred to as Orthokeratology or Ortho-K) is an FDA-approved vision treatment that delivers clear, comfortable vision without glasses, daytime contact lenses or surgery. Before going to bed, Overnight Sight patients put on custom therapeutic corneal molds that correct their blurry vision while they sleep by gently reshaping the surface of their eyes. Once they wake up, they remove the molds and enjoy a full day of clarity. You can think of Overnight Sight like an orthodontic retainer for your eyes. Our Overnight Sight program has helped hundreds of young patients stabilize their myopia progression. Research has shown that Overnight Sight significantly slows the rate of myopia progression.
The ideal candidate for Overnight Sight is a nearsighted patient, with or without low to moderate amounts of astigmatism. Children who are nearsighted typically become more nearsighted over time. While myopia (nearsightedness) can be corrected with glasses or contact lenses, high myopia increases the risk of many eye diseases including cataracts glaucoma, and retinal detachment. Overnight Sight slows down the progression of nearsightedness leading to smaller prescriptions and healthier eyes.
Overnight Sight is an FDA-approved therapy for all ages that is non-invasive, non-surgical, safe and effective.
What are the benefits?
- Freedom from glasses and daytime contact lenses. If you currently rely on these devices, then you are familiar with the expense, inconvenience and discomfort they bring. Overnight Sight is especially liberating for people who enjoy playing sports, the outdoors and other active hobbies. No need to worry about losing glasses or contact lenses drying out.
- No surgery required. Unlike LASIK, Overnight Sight is non-invasive, reversible and does not interfere with integrity of the surface of the eyes. Also, it is less costly than laser refractive surgery.
- The opportunity to save your vision. Nearsightedness is a condition that worsens over time. Overnight Sight has been proven to slow down that progression. We believe every nearsighted child should be given the opportunity to slow or stop the progression of myopia.
Soft Myopia
In general, soft contact lenses do nothing to slow the rate of myopia progression. However, more recently there are some very specific custom soft lenses available that cause light rays to focus in front of the peripheral retina, thus slowing the rate of myopia progression.
Some of the soft lens brands that we use are:
– MiSight (Coopervision)
– Naturalvue (Visioneering Technologies, Inc)
The benefit to Soft Myopia Control lenses are that they are a daily, disposable lens which means there is no daily cleaning involved and the material feels softer and more pliant.
Atropine
Atropine is a medication that has been used for many years to dilate the pupil. When using atropine for myopia control, we prescribe a very dilute concentration that has minimal side effects and does not dilate the pupil. The drops are used once per day before bedtime. Unlike Overnight Sight, Atropine does not correct vision- the patient will still require glasses or contacts during the day if they need them to see. However, Myopia research has shown that Atropine is very effective in slowing the rate of myopia progression. The main benefit of atropine is being able to control myopia progression without having to wear a contact lens of any kind.
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