What is Myopia?

1. The Eye Clinic What is Myopia? It's an eye condition where we need glasses in order to see clearly for far. Why control myopia? What's so bad about myopia you ask? Just wear glasses. That's not correct. Myopia is a disease because it can lead to blindness from retinal detachment , glaucoma and macula degeneration. This is because In myopia the eye is growing abnormally longer than it should. The longer the eye, the higher the prescription and the higher the risk of blindness, it have been found that a prescription of more than 600 has a 50 times increased chance of sight threatening disease than at 100 degrees. The good news is that we can control myopia. Myopia if not controlled will keep increasing and never decrease. The longer the eyeball the higher the prescription. So once it grows long it cannot become shorter. That's why you must stop your child's prescription as soon as possible. If we don't stop it at 100 and it increases to 150 we can never reverse 100 ever again. Time is of Essence! The increase is seen the most at primary school age. That's why you need to act between 4 to 12. After that the growth is much slower. What causes myopia? The main cause is excessive near work. That's why here at The Eye clinic we take effort to explain and discipline the child to take half hour eye breaks after Half hour of near work of any type e.g. reading , iPad, phones , origami etc. The other cause is lack of time outdoors as the sun can strengthen the wall of the eye and prevent it from elongating. How can myopia be controlled? Dr Cheryl Lee brings back with her more than 10 years of international experience in the field of ophthalmology. She received a wide range of specialist training in England, America and France. “I have a particular interest in prevention and treatment of myopia (short sightedness) and the diseases linked to being short sighted. The Myopia Clinic by Dr. Cheryl Lee offers both options of atropine or Ortho K and allows for an unbiased discussion to what is better suited to your child." We see all kids from four years old and start by checking their vision, prescription and monitor that the degree increases less than 50 degrees every six months. More than that than we start controlling with eye drops or Ortho K lenses. We spend time teaching reading and iPad habits and find ways to fit

2. The Eye Clinic outdoor activities into their daily life. Educating the child and parents on good habits is key to myopia control. The choice of atropine eye drops or Ortho K or special glasses depends on the age , prescription, lifestyle and motivation of each child. The mechanisms of action are different. We have the expertise of assessing what would work best for your child. I started this clinic because I wanted to offer patients the treatment that would work the best for them. Both methods are safe when properly taught. The risks of not controlling myopia far outweighs the risks of treatment. "Doing something is really better than doing nothing" Atropine eye drops are of such a low dose nowadays there is no more side effects with problems with sun light or reading. I don't like increasing the atropine concentration as the side effects affect the quality of life. At The Myopia Clinic, we control the prescription tightly as we don't like to see an increase. Because of our expertise in the different myopia control techniques we have the agility to even combine treatments. Ortho-K lenses are specially designed gas permeable contact lenses for wear during sleep that reshape the cornea . On waking the lenses are removed. So not only does it control the myopia , it gives freedom of glasses or contacts during the day. We have kids who are competitive swimmers , badminton players and dancers. As the contact lens practice is within an eye doctor's clinic , you can be ensured details are paid to any eye concerns as a doctor is at hand. Our extensive experience with kids Ortho K has helped us achieve good results with the Good night lens for adults. It's non-surgical vision correction treatment and is reversible which means if a patient stops wearing the lenses, their eyes will return to its original status. Vision freedom is achieved as the Good night lens is worn during sleep, removed on waking up and there is no need for glasses or contact lenses during the day. The lenses are highly gas permeable, so the cornea is not going to be deprived of oxygen at night. This also means he added benefit of no dry eyes or discomfort during the day especially in front of computers and reading. Our eye care team practices what we preach. Our Good night lens team wears the lens. Dr. Lee has a team of optometrists who are trained and certified in ortho-k, and are members of the International Academy of orthokeratology. To find out more in detail, please come to the public talk or visit our website.