The Causes Of The Development Of Myopia In Children

Have you ever read a plaque several meters away with your eyes squinted to better distinguish what is written on it?

Do you ever hold the screen of your smartphone closer to your nose to better read the message you have just received?

If you answered yes, you are probably nearsighted. So how does myopia evolve? Is it possible to slow down its evolution? What correction to myopia?

Myopia

Myopia is manifested by a rather clear near vision and a very blurred vision from afar. In general, this eye problem makes it possible to read more or less without necessarily wearing glasses or contact lenses.

It is among the most common eye problems in the world. Moreover, in 2015, the WHO wrote a report revealing that by 2050, more than half of the world’s population will suffer from myopia.

According to Eye specialists, myopia is associated with a problem of accommodation of the eye. Generally, to obtain a clear image, the light captured by the lens must be projected exactly on the retina.

This deformation of the organ of sight causes the captured images to be projected in front of the retina and not on the surface of the latter, hence obtaining a blurred image.

What are the causes of myopia?

Myopia can be hereditary. You then wonder why your father or your mother is not short-sighted when you are. This is a very frequent case.

Or quite simply, you are nearsighted because you have been exposed to the source factors of the disease.

Like frequent exposure to blue light at a young age or a daily focus on fixed objects (television, book, telephone, etc.).

According to these explanations, this eye disorder can affect young and old, but it occurs especially during childhood.

Indeed, children are more inclined to spend hours in front of the television to watch animated films or to stay in front of their video game consoles.

In older children, it is often reading that causes blurred vision from afar. In any case, the evolution of myopia is done with age.

How does a myopic person feel?

A person with myopia sees better during the day than at night. Indeed, once the evening comes, the myopisation is accentuated.

The driving will be more difficult because the concentration will have to be redoubled. In addition, evolving myopia causes frequent and often excruciating migraines.

The evolution of myopia

It is good to know that not all cases of myopia are progressive. Here are the possible evolutions of this eye disorder, from childhood to adulthood.

Simple myopia

Myopia usually appears around 6 or 8 years old. Often, the child will not be aware of their vision problem.

The evolution of myopia at this age is about 0.5 diopters/year. However, once the subject has reached the age of 20-22 years, myopia will stabilize. In other words, it won’t progress any further.

It is nevertheless important to take your child to an ophthalmologist in order to carry out a visual examination and detect whether he is nearsighted or not. Some signs may have already tickled you.

If your children get too close to the TV or bend over their notebook a lot to write, they’re probably nearsighted! The contact lens can then be an option to treat the child’s eye.

In some cases, myopia can appear earlier, even from birth. Myopia appeared early and will become more progressive and more important. In other cases, the eye disorder does not occur until well after the age of 20 and stabilizes a little later.

High myopia

Myopia is said to be high when it exceeds 8 diopters. How does it happen? Well, this form of myopia first started as simple myopia, that is, it started around childhood.

In some cases, the development of myopia can continue for up to 30 years while in other circumstances it can last for up to 60 years.

The progression of myopia is then explained by an eye that has continued to lengthen over time. In other words, a highly myopic person will have eyesight that will deteriorate more and more, over the years.

High myopia can lead to serious consequences for the subject like retinal atrophy, complications on the choroid, and alterations of the optic nerve. This evolution of the ocular disorder then causes what is called degenerative myopia.

How to preserve your children’s eyesight

Visually impaired when they open their eyes for the first time, their visual acuity increases to 3/10ths around one year, 5/10ths at 4 years old, and 10/10ths around 5 to 6 years old. It is therefore before this age that it is imperative to detect certain visual disorders.

Several measures of hygiene are then necessary to maintain good eyesight. Especially after the age of 40, when different age-related eye pathologies can appear.

To preserve their sight, it is obviously essential to protect their eyes. For example – do not forget- dust, soot, and other particles by wearing suitable glasses when working, or hiking in a dusty environment.

Above all, make them beware of ultraviolet (UV) sunlight. UV light penetrates more or less significantly and deeply into the eye, and more easily in the case of children.

With consequences ranging from simple inflammation of the cornea, or keratitis, up to melanoma of the eye, when the cells containing the pigment that protects from UV rays are affected.

The sea and the mountains are not the only places where you have to protect your children’s eyes, the city can be just as dangerous, because they are faced with a strong reflection of light on glass, white or smooth surfaces.

Moreover, summer is not the only season to fear, the lights of autumn and winter, marked by greater reverberation and more violent contrasts, expose just as much to UV.

As soon as the UV index rises, wearing glasses is essential. A pair of glasses with very tinted lenses will not necessarily protect against UV rays, whereas transparent corrective lenses can provide total protection.

Another light source to be wary of is the LEDs of televisions, smartphones, tablets, and computers, whose blue light is likely to prematurely age the retina, and the environment.

Spending hours in front of a screen can also generate eye fatigue which, if it does not trigger eye diseases, does contribute to revealing them. In this case, whatever the age, do not delay in consulting.

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