Myopia treatments

Also named nearsightedness, myopia is so common today that it is estimated to affect one-third of the population in the world. In contrast to hyperopia which deprive people from close vision, people with myopia can see up-close objects but can not manage distance things such as highway signs.

Similar with hyperopia, myopia also involves irregular eyeball shape. People with myopia have longer eyeballs than normal people, so that light rays are focused in front of the retina. Normal vision requires a light focus right on the retina.

Without proper correction, myopic people always squint to see distance objects and may suffer from headache and eye strain. Those wearing glasses or contact lenses with improper prescription are also bothered by these symptoms. As people age, myopia will stop progressing and become stable, although sometimes it performs myopic creep.

Whether you need full-time eyeglasses or contact lenses wearing depends on your degree of myopia. People with myopia have prescriptions with negative numbers, and a higher number represents a heavier myopia.

Refractive surgeries are becoming popular since they can reshape the cornea of myopic patients and eliminate the need for glasses. PRK and LASIK are two of the available refractive surgeries, both of which use an excimer laser. While a PRK just removes a layer of corneal tissue and flattens the cornea, a LASIK involves a flap cut through the top of the cornea.

For night wear, special contact lenses applying orthokeratology (ortho-k) can reshape the cornea over time and provide clear vision during daytime without lenses or glasses. As implantable lenses, phakic IOLs can deal with special situations that are beyond LASIK and PRK. These IOLs are permanently placed in the eye during the surgery, eliminating any maintenance.

There is also pathologic myopia, which is extremely severe and can not be corrected by any of the above treatments. This type of myopia occurs in children with extremely elongated eyeball by age 12. The situation will worsen as children age and unfortunately develop abnormal growth of new blood vessels. There was no effective treatment during a long period until the approval of drug Visudyne along with non-thermal laser application in 2001. This treatment named photodynamic therapy has been proved to be effective.