Diagnosis and Management of Nearsighted Children

When referencing quality of vision, in other words having blurry eyesight, people often will describe themselves as being “farsighted” when they are really nearsighted and vice versa. Farsighted people can see better far with no glasses, thus are “far” sighted. Near sighted people can see better near with no glasses, thus are “near” sighted. Vision changes can occur in both groups. People who are over 40 and have trouble reading without assistance may be farsighted or nearsighted compounded by a condition called Presbyopia – Presbyopia makes people have to hold things further away from their corrected eyes to read it. I like to call it “Short Arm Syndrome”.

People who are nearsighted (short sighted or myopic) have eyes that act like magnifiers when viewing near objects and minifiers when viewing far objects. Putting corrective lenses on magnifies the distance objects and minifies the near and that is why nearsighted people will tell you they read better when their glasses are off. Farsighted people have naturally magnified distance vision and minified near. When they put on glasses distance and near get more magnified. When both groups are over 40 and attempt to read, their glasses may not provide the necessary power and it might be necessary to include an “add”, also known as bifocal or multifocal into the lens to assist with the near.

Nearsighted people can take off their distance correction, bifocals or multifocals and read at near whereas farsighted people can’t. It is also important to have regular eye exams, reporting changing vision to your eye doctor as soon as possible as it may be a sign of advancing myopia, especially in children. While doctors can’t always make recommendations that will improve vision without glasses or contact lenses, they may offer therapy for corneal reshaping that will enable freedom from optical correction during waking hours, such as Orthokeratology lenses (Ortho k lenses).

Options such as OrthoK, cornea refractive therapy including paragon crt (vision shaping treatment) are particularly helpful when seeking to improve eyesight in children, and reduce change in vision , specifically myopia in children and may, in some cases reduce the risk of children with myopia advancing to high myopia.

If you are interested in managing your vision or the vision of a loved one with nearsightedness and concerned about vision changes, contact an eye doctor from our directory near you or read through our website to learn about other options for improving your eyesight.