3 Things To Know If Your Child Is Diagnosed With Myopia
Myopia is an eye condition known as nearsightedness. If your eye doctor tells you that your child is nearsighted, it means that he or she can see things that are close but may have trouble seeing things at a distance. Your child will most likely need to wear glasses to see better, but you should understand that this can be a progressive disease.
Causes of myopia
Myopia is the result of having an eyeball or cornea that is too long or curved. This prevents light from entering the eye properly, and it can leave a person with blurred vision when viewing things that are far away. Myopia is a very common condition, and it tends to develop when people are young. It also tends to be hereditary, because children are more likely to develop this if their parents also have it.
Children are also at a higher risk of developing myopia if they read a lot, spend a lot of time on a computer, or play a lot of games on a phone or handheld device.
It is often a progressive disorder
Any disorder that is considered progressive is one that worsens over time, and myopia falls into this category. When a child is diagnosed with this condition at a young age, it is very likely that each year the child's vision will worsen just a little bit. This means that your child might need stronger glasses at each annual eye doctor visit.
In addition, as the child gets older, he or she might have other types of eye problems. For example, one study showed that people with myopia were more likely to develop cataracts when they were older. People with myopia are also at a higher risk of developing glaucoma when they are older, and they are also at a higher risk for developing retinal detachment.
Ways you can help
While there might not be a lot you can do to prevent your child's myopia from worsening, some experts believe that there are things you can do that may slow down the destructiveness of myopia. These include making sure your child spends time outdoors and cutting back on the time he or she spends on the computer.
If you would like to learn more about this type of eye condition and ways to prevent it from worsening, contact an eye doctor, like one at Montgomery Eye Center, today to schedule an appointment for your child.