Myopia Management

At Family Eye Care Center of Atlanta, we can help you manage myopia so that you or a loved one can see life clearly. We offer several myopia management options for this common eye disorder, which can improve vision and slow the progression of myopia in children.

What Is Myopia?

Myopia, also referred to as nearsightedness, is a vision condition that causes objects at a distance to appear blurry and out of focus. Objects nearer to the individual are typically clear. It is possible to have myopia in addition to other vision conditions.

Myopia is caused by the eye growing too long from front to back, which causes incoming light to focus in front of the retina rather than on it, where it should be. Myopia can also be caused by excessive corneal curvature or a lens within the eye that is too thick.

Typically, this condition develops during childhood when the eyeball is going through periods of rapid growth. It may continue to progress quickly until early adulthood when the eye tends to stabilize and the condition progresses more slowly. Childhood myopia is usually diagnosed between the ages of 5 and 7.

Prevalence of Myopia

Unfortunately, myopia is not only common but also growing in prevalence. Currently, it is estimated that as much as 25% of the world (1.5 billion people) is considered myopic, and that number is expected to grow to 50% by 2050.

​​​​​​​Although several factors may be contributing to this growing number, researchers and eye doctors agree that a major factor is eye fatigue from the increasing amount of close-up work we do, including using computers, phones, and tablets, reading, and studying. Additionally, less time spent outdoors may also contribute to the increasing diagnosis of myopia in patients. Essentially, we are spending more time looking at objects closer to our faces and less time allowing our eyes to focus on those far away.