Myopia Prevention and Control in Adolescents

We often say that we should prevent and control myopia.

So what exactly are we protecting against, and what are we controlling?

Why do eyes become nearsightedness?

Let’s answer them one by one below.

1.How do eyes grow and develop?

When a child is born, their eye axis is approximately 17mm, which is a high degree of hyperopia. As the child grows and develops, the eye axis continues to lengthen, and the degree of hyperopia decreases. The first three years are a critical rapid period of eye development. By the age of three, the eye axis reaches approximately 21mm, growing by 3mm in three years. Each millimeter corresponds to a refractive power of 300 diopters. By the time the child is three years old, they generally have around 300 degrees of hyperopia.

As children grow and develop, myopia gradually decreases and develops into normal vision, and then progresses to nearsightedness. This process from myopia to normal vision or nearsightedness is what we call the normalization process of eye development. The postnatal visual environment has a huge impact on the development of the child's eyeball, and video devices such as smartphones, computers, game consoles, and TVs, as well as near-distance fine-sighted activities such as playing the piano, drawing, and doing homework, all accelerate the normalization process of the child's eye development.

2. What do we prevent from?

The prevention of myopia is aimed at preventing the irreversible and blindness-causing eye diseases caused by high myopia, rather than removing glasses or curing myopia. If left unchecked, myopia will only worsen, leading to high myopia. High myopia is prone to many eye complications, such as abnormal vitreous, retinal degeneration and tears, retinal detachment, cataract, glaucoma, posterior staphyloma, and macular degeneration, which are among the main causes of blindness. The earlier myopia develops, the greater the likelihood of developing into high myopia, so it is crucial to start protecting eyesight from a young age.

3. What is high myopia?

Causing blindness.

This is because the average increase in myopia is 300 degrees, which causes the eyeball to lengthen by about 1mm in front-back diameter. Therefore, as the degree of myopia increases, the eyeball will become longer and thinner, causing the retina, choroid, and other parts of the eye to become thinner as well. Consequently, the risk of developing blindness-causing eye diseases such as retinal detachment, macular degeneration, and glaucoma will greatly increase.

The earlier intervention is carried out, the better we can monitor the axial length growth of children and adolescents, and help control myopia. Currently, interventions for myopia include correction and slowing down progression.

4. Pay attention to your daily eye-using habits:

1. Don't always stay indoors, do more outdoor activities;

2. Develop good eye-using habits, the lighting for reading and writing is very important, use eye-protecting desk lamps;

3. Look farther more often, supplement your nutrition, eat more vegetables.