Myopia Management Screening For Children

Myopia (short-sightedness) is a result of an excessive elongation of the eye where light focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. This causes distant objects to be blurry while close objects appear normal. Myopia management screening for children will look at various risk factors that a child has for developing myopia. It will create a tailored plan usually with special spectacles or contact lenses that will help slow myopic progression and reduce the final level of myopia in adulthood.

Have your child screened for myopic risk factors

Here at Focus Medical Eye Centre, we are able to provide a quick and easy screening test to see if your child is at risk of developing progressive myopia. It involves family history and lifestyle questions along with measuring the length of your child’s eyes (axial length measurement). Using a special scanner called the Myah we are able to plot your child’s risk of myopia as a percentile and work out projected growth charts. This information helps us to create a strategy using the latest technology available (special spectacles or contact lenses) to try and slow your child’s progression and final level of myopia by up to 60%*. We can continue to measure the length of your child’s eye to see if a chosen intervention is working for your child. This helps us to tailor any required treatment.

*This percentage is based on the results of the Essilor Stellest lens and other interventions will have their own data.

The graph below demonstrates that children below the 50th percentile for AL increase are significantly less likely to become myopic (and almost certainly not be highly myopic), compared to those above the 50th percentile.

Risk factors for myopia & myopic progression

• One or both parents are Myopic.
• Already being myopic (short-sighted).
• Being myopic at a young age.
• Ethnicity
• Wearing traditional single-vision spectacles with rapid myopic progression

Why you need to act now

The earlier the onset of myopia in an individual generally leads to a higher level of myopia in later life which increases risk factors for several ocular pathologies including glaucoma, cataract, retinal detachment, & myopic maculopathy brought about by the accompanying elongation of the eye.

The highest risk is typically found in high myopia >-5.00DS. So, if we can reduce how myopic an individual ends up as an adult this will reduce their risk of developing certain pathologies in later life. A reduction in the final level of myopia by only 1 dioptre reduces the lifetime risk of macula degeneration by 40% and the risk of vision impairment by 20%.

Myopia progresses fastest in younger children, especially those under 10. This means that the most important opportunity to slow eye growth is when children are younger. Myopia management aims to apply scientific treatments to slow excessive growth to a lesser rate. Experts agree that myopia management should be started as soon as a child becomes myopic and should continue into their late teens.

How to arrange Myopia Management Screening

We will be able to discuss myopia management screening during your child’s eye examination and make any necessary recommendations. A child’s eye examination is £45.00 with one of our specialists at Focus Medical Eye Centre or covered for one child under a parent’s care plan. This will not include the special eye length scan and growth percentiles report but this is available for an extra charge of just £25.00.

Alternatively, the easiest way to manage your child’s care is to join our Myopia Monthly Plan which will include all measurements, a tailored treatment plan and regular follow ups for just £7.95 per month*

Please note: the basic NHS child’s eye examination will not include any myopia management treatment plans, scans or follow ups.

*This is separate to the parent’s care plan which only covers a basic eye examination for one child. The Myopia plan covers the clinical time needed to manage this service but any spectacle or contact lenses needed are at an additional cost.