For parents

Myopia Control for Children

If your child needs stronger glasses every year, their eyes are still growing. Myopia control slows that growth.

Book a Children's Eye Exam

What progression looks like

The same classroom seen without glasses as myopia gets worse.

Classroom seen clearly with glasses
Clear
Classroom slightly blurry with mild myopia
Mild
Classroom blurry with moderate myopia
Moderate
Classroom very blurry with high myopia
High

Why it matters

Diagram comparing a nearsighted eye, which is too long, with a normal eye
A nearsighted eye is too long, so distant things focus in front of the retina.

67%

higher rate of myopic maculopathy, a type of permanent damage to the back of the eye, with each 1.00 increase in prescription. Slowing myopia lowers that risk.

Bullimore MA, Brennan NA. Optom Vis Sci. 2019. Read the study

A longer eye also raises the lifetime risk of retinal detachment and glaucoma. Myopia control can't undo myopia, but it slows it down.

Is your child at higher risk?

  • Nearsighted parents
  • Myopia before age 10
  • Prescription up 0.50 or more in a year
  • Lots of screen time
  • Little time outdoors

At every visit I measure the length of your child's eye with a quick, painless scan. It often shows progression before their glasses change.

Treatment options

I'll recommend the right fit for your child's age, prescription and routine. Fast progression may call for two together.

Myopia control spectacle lens with rings of small treatment zones around a clear centre

Worn all day

Myopia Control Glasses

A clear centre for sharp vision, surrounded by tiny zones that signal the eye to slow its growth. They look like regular glasses.

Easy to startGreat for younger kids

Worn during the day

Myopia Control Contacts

Soft daily disposable lenses with treatment rings built in. A fresh pair every day.

Great for sportsFor kids ready for lenses
Diagram of an ortho-k lens gently reshaping the front of the eye overnight, then removed in the morning

Worn overnight

Ortho-K Lenses

Custom lenses worn while sleeping gently reshape the front of the eye. Your child sees clearly all day without glasses.

No glasses during the dayNightly cleaning

Eye drops

Low-Dose Atropine

One drop in each eye at bedtime. Works alone or alongside glasses, contacts or ortho-k.

Once a daySide effects usually minor

Follow-up schedule

  1. Starting visit

    Dilated eye exam, eye length measurement and a plan.

  2. First weeks

    Glasses, contacts or drops: a check within the first month. Ortho-k: the next morning, then 1 week, 1 month and 3 months.

  3. Every 6 months

    Re-measure eye length and adjust the plan, usually into the mid to late teens.

  • 2 hours outdoors a day
  • Breaks from close-up work
  • Use the treatment every day

OHIP covers a yearly eye exam for children 19 and under. Myopia control treatments aren't covered.

The evidence

What the research shows

Myopia control glasses

52%

slower myopia progression with DIMS lenses than regular glasses over 2 years.

Randomized trial, 183 children. Lam CSY et al. Br J Ophthalmol. 2020;104(3):363–368.

Read the study

Atropine eye drops

2/3

less progression with 0.05% atropine than placebo drops after one year, the best of three low doses.

Placebo-controlled trial, 438 children. Yam JC et al. Ophthalmology. 2019;126(1):113–124.

Read the study

Ortho-k lenses

43%

slower eye growth with ortho-k than regular glasses over 2 years.

Randomized trial. Cho P, Cheung SW. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2012;53(11):7077–7085.

Read the study

All three trials were done with children in Hong Kong. Results vary from child to child.

Book your child's eye exam

I'll measure your child's eyes, show you how fast their myopia is changing and go over the options. I see families in English, Vietnamese and Mandarin.

Book an Appointment

General information, not a diagnosis. Treatment is recommended after an eye exam. Doctors can refer through the For Physicians page.