When I was eight, my eye doctor prescribed glasses for me to see the blackboard. The truth was, my vision was so bad I should have worn glasses all the time, but my mother told me that wearing glasses would make my vision worse so I walked around in a blurry haze for ten years until I got my first pair of contact lenses. When my own daughter needed glasses at the age of six (bad genetics from her dad) I made sure she wore them all the time so she would not miss out on seeing the beautiful details in the world around her the way I did (love you mom). One thing that concerned me however was how quickly her prescription changed, sometimes every six months. Back then the idea of slowing the progression of nearsightedness was not even in its infancy and according to the conventional wisdom of the time I had her wear bifocals. Fast forward almost twenty years and controlling the progression of nearsightedness is now a reality.
There are a couple of options out there such as Ortho K (wearing hard lenses overnight to reshape the cornea), atropine eye drops, and soft multifocal lenses with specific parameters to help blur certain parts of the vision and attenuate others. Although these modalities are FDA approved, they are not necessary FDA approved for myopia (nearsightedness) control. A few days ago CooperVision announced that they came out with a daily disposable soft multifocal lens called MiSight which is specifically approved by the FDA for myopia control. This is a very exciting addition to our arsenal of myopia control tactics and one that I believe will be embraced by both parents and eye care professionals alike due to its ease of use and availability. As soon as I get more information on the accessibility of the lens I will post a little more on how the technology works and who would be a good candidate for this treatment.
The other day the cutest little girl came in for her first eye exam. She was starting third grade and was an excellent student reading above grade level. Her parents were sure she didn’t need glasses but thought it was time for her to start having routine eye exams. She was articulate and outspoken and wanted to be done with her visit so she could get on with her day. She read the eye chart in her right eye all the way down to the tiniest letter and was eager to do the same on the left eye. To everyone’s surprise she struggled, barely getting down to the second to last line, guessing and growing frustrated as she realized something wasn’t right. She also had some trouble seeing in 3D which indicated that her two eyes were not working together. At the end of the exam I told her parents that although her right eye was perfect she was hyperopic, or farsighted in her left eye and the large discrepancy between the two eyes had created amblyopia (lazy eye) in that left eye. She left with a new pair of glasses and a follow-up appointment in three months. 
This little girl and her family were lucky that she was doing so well in school despite her amblyopia and suboptimal visual system. Don’t wait until your child complains or you get a note sent home from the school nurse or your child’s teacher – book your childs yearly exam now before the school year gets underway. 
Park Eye Center 