First steps in myopia management

It has become increasingly clear in recent years that children who are myopic are likely to see a worsening of their condition without early intervention from an optometrist.

In a positive step forward for this area of practice, however, a new class of treatments are now available that can slow down the progression of myopia in children – potentially by half.

In this video, one father explains how starting out on the myopia management journey has been for his family.

Richard Kadri-Langford, who is a high myope, hopes myopia management will help the two of his three children who are short-sighted to avoid myopia-related problems that he might experience himself in the future.

His children, Lily and Reuben, are seen beginning their treatment at Central Vision Opticians in North London with optometrist Bhavin Shah.

In the video, Kadri-Langford outlines the context that led to his family beginning their journey with myopia management, and Shah explains the first steps that will be undertaken, including tomography, measuring axial length, and binocular vision status.

Quality of cornea is then checked to see which contact lenses are suitable.

Lily and Reuben found the process enjoyable, with Lily saying afterwards: “It was really unusual, but really good at the same time, and it was really fun.”

She added: “Feeling the contact lenses in my eyes was a bit strange at first – they felt really weird. But when I’d had them on for a longer period of time it became better.”

Lily said that she and her brother like playing football, which means their glasses are at risk of frequently being broken, “so having contact lenses would mean that I can do more things, that I couldn’t do without my glasses.”

Kadri-Langford plans to blog and vlog the process, giving “a first-person perspective on what the journey is like, what happens, and what the consultation is like.”

After the consultation, Shah concluded that, because of their active lifestyles, both Lily and Reuben would suit ortho-k lenses.

He explained that he would follow up a week or two after they had started wearing them, and progress with their myopia management as required.

Footage is courtesy of Myopia Focus.