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Myopia Management and Control for Kids
Clear vision today. Protection for your child’s future eye health.
It’s more than just clear vision.
It’s about your child’s future.
Myopia management is more than just about clear vision, it’s about the future and protecting your child’s vision from getting worse.
At Specs Appeal, we use advanced treatments including Ortho-K, Stellest lenses, and low-dose Atropine drops to create personalized plans that help slow myopia progression and maintain your child’s eye health. Myopia management is designed to slow the progression of nearsightedness and reduce the risk of future eye health complications.
Why Progression Matters
Myopia is not just about needing stronger glasses. Higher levels of myopia can increase the lifetime risk of serious eye conditions, including retinal detachment, glaucoma, cataracts, and myopic macular degeneration. The goal of myopia management is to reduce how quickly nearsightedness progresses and help protect your child’s long-term eye health.
1 in 2
People May be Myopic by 2050
High Myopia
High Myopia Significantly Increases Lifetime Eye Disease (Retinal Detachment, Glaucoma, Myopic macular degeneration)
We Measure Eye Growth
Axial length monitoring helps us track progression beyond the prescription.
Early Treatment
The earlier the treatment, the more effective the opportunity to slow progression
Is Your Child’s Prescription Getting Stronger?
Many parents first notice myopia when their child starts squinting at the board, sitting closer to the TV, holding books or devices close, or needing stronger glasses every year. Standard glasses can make distance vision clear, but they do not address the worsening of your child’s myopia. Myopia management is designed to slow that progression.
Why Myopia Management Matters
What is Myopia?
Myopia, or nearsightedness, happens when the eye grows too long from front to back, causing distant objects to look blurry. In children, myopia often progresses as the eyes continue to grow such as during childhood, which is why a child’s prescription may increase year after year.
Why does early intervention matter?
The earlier myopia is identified, the more opportunity we have to slow its progression. Because childhood myopia often worsens during the school-age years, early treatment can help reduce your child’s final prescription and future risk.
How We Choose the Right Myopia Control Treatment
Evaluation
There is no one-size-fits-all treatment for childhood myopia. At Specs Appeal, we begin with a comprehensive evaluation that looks at your child’s prescription, age, eye health, family history, lifestyle, visual needs, and rate of progression.
Monitoring
A key part of our approach is axial length monitoring — measuring the physical length of the eye over time. This gives us another layer of information beyond the glasses prescription and helps us better understand how your child’s myopia is progressing.
Adjusting
By combining prescription changes, axial length measurements, eye health findings, and your child’s lifestyle, we can recommend a more personalized plan using options such as Ortho-K, Stellest lenses, MiSight 1 day contact lenses, and low-dose atropine.
Not All Myopia Control Programs Are the Same
Some offices offer myopia control treatments but if they are not measuring Axial Length, they may be missing the mark. At Specs Appeal, we take a more advanced approach by measuring axial length — which means better outcomes.
The Lenses They Need
Ortho-K: See Clearly Without Daytime Lenses
Orthokeratology, or Ortho-K is an FDA-approved treatment using specially designed contact lenses that is worn overnight to naturally reshape your child’s cornea while they sleep. In the morning, they remove the lenses and enjoy clear vision all day without glasses or contact lenses.
Soft Contact Lenses for Myopia Control
MiSight 1 Day or Euclid Be Free special soft contact lenses are designed to correct your child’s vision while also slowing myopia progression.
Stellest Glasses for Myopia Control
FDA-authorized glasses lenses designed to help slow myopia progression while providing clear vision for every day activities
Q&A
What age should my child start myopia management?
The earlier, the better. Myopia often progresses fastest during childhood, so we recommend starting myopia management as soon as your child is diagnosed—especially if their prescription is getting stronger each year. We’ll evaluate your child’s vision, eye health, and risk factors to determine the right time and treatment for them.
Does myopia management really work?
Yes. Research has shown that myopia management can significantly slow the progression of nearsightedness in many children. Treatment won’t reverse myopia or guarantee that it will stop completely, but slowing its progression can reduce your child’s risk of developing high myopia and related eye health problems later in life.
Is myopia management covered by insurance?
Myopia management is not covered by insurance and is considered a specialized service. However, some vision insurance plans may provide benefits toward myopia control glasses, depending on your individual plan and coverage. FSA (Flexible Spending Account) and HSA (Health Savings Account) funds can be used toward the cost of myopia management. Our team will review all treatment fees with you before your child begins the program so you know exactly what to expect.
How often will my child need follow-up visits?
Most children are seen several times during the first year and periodically after that. These visits allow us to make sure treatment is working, monitor your child’s prescription and eye health, and adjust their treatment when needed. We’ll create a follow-up schedule specifically for your child.
