Nearsightedness Health Article

Treatment

You can compensate for nearsightedness by wearing eyeglasses or contact lenses, which shift the focus point to the retina. There are several surgical procedures that reshape the cornea, shifting the focus point from in front of the retina to the retina.

Radial keratotomy is a surgical procedure that was popular in the recent past. Now it has been almost completely replaced by LASIK, in which an excimer laser is used to reshape the cornea.

Expectations (prognosis)

Early diagnosis of nearsightedness is important, because a child can suffer socially and educationally by not being able to see well at a distance.

Complications

• Complications can occur in people who use contact lenses (corneal ulcers and infections)
• Complications of laser vision correction are uncommon, but can be serious
• People with myopia can, in rare cases, develop retinal detachments or retinal degeneration

Calling your health care provider

Call for an appointment with your ophthalmologist if your child shows these signs, which may indicate a vision problem:

• Having difficulty reading the blackboard in school or signs on a wall
• Holding books very close when reading
• Sitting close to the television

Call for an appointment with your ophthalmologist if your child is having difficulties at school that may be caused by a vision problem.

Call for an appointment with your ophthalmologist if you or your child is nearsighted and experiences:

• Flashing lights
• Floating spots
• Sudden loss of any part of the field of vision

Prevention

There is no way to prevent nearsightedness. Reading and watching television do not cause nearsightedness. In the past, dilating eye drops were proposed as a treatment to slow the development of nearsightedness in children, but they have never been proved effective.

The use of glasses or contact lenses does not affect the normal progression of myopia -- they simply focus the light so the nearsighted person can see distant objects clearly.