Myopia Control Specialist

What is nearsightedness?

Nearsightedness means you have difficulty seeing objects that are far away, but your close-up vision is fine. If you’re nearsighted, your eye’s physical shape is too long or too curved to clearly focus light onto your retina.

Both children and adults can have myopia. As a child’s eye grows, myopia tends to worsen. The condition usually stabilizes in adulthood, when eye development stops, though some people experience worsening myopia in middle age.

How is nearsightedness diagnosed?

At Great Neck Opticians, Dr. Pinkhasova and Dr. Tamayeva perform a series of tests to determine if you have myopia and what strength of corrective lenses you need.

One test involves reading letters off a distance chart. This determines how well you can see things at a distance compared with other people.

After the distance chart, you look through a phoropter, an instrument that contains many lenses of different strengths. Based on how these lenses affect your vision, your optometrist determines the lens prescription you need.

What is myopia control?

While standard glasses and contact lenses can correct myopia to help you see better, myopia control slows the progression of nearsightedness. Some of these options include:

Lifestyle changes

Changes such as limiting screen time and using an anti-glare computer monitor can reduce digital eye strain and the progression of myopia. Children often benefit from more time outdoors.

Specialized lenses

Specialized lenses like Eyezen™ block out blue light and reduce strain and eye fatigue, all of which can delay myopia progression.

Another special lens option, available in eyeglasses or contact lenses, gives you two or more prescriptions at once. In glasses they’re called progressive lenses, and in contacts, they’re known as multifocal contact lenses. If you have more than one vision problem, these lenses can help stop the progression of myopia by reducing eye strain.

Orthokeratology, or ortho-k, is another type of special lens that you wear only at night. The lenses gradually reshape your cornea while you sleep, which can correct your myopia and prevent further progression.

Atropine drops

Atropine eyedrops may be helpful for some myopia sufferers. The drops dilate your pupils, which relaxes your eyes and prevents focus fatigue. This, in turn, can help delay myopia progression.

Some patients have LASIK eye surgery to permanently correct their myopia. You may not need eyeglasses or contact lenses after LASIK. If you’re interested in this option, your optometrist can refer you to an ophthalmologist.

To schedule an eye exam at Great Neck Opticians, call or use the online booking tool today.