As of 2020, there is no cure for myopia. However, some treatments and management strategies can help restore distance vision. The success of these strategies depends largely on whether the patient is an adult or a child.
Well, unlike a virus or an infection, myopia is caused by the shape of your eyeballs, so unfortunately it can't be 'cured' using medicine, exercises, massage or herbal remedies.
Unfortunately, the plain and simple answer is: no. There are no treatments available that can effectively reverse myopia. Myopia can progress into adulthood and, if left untreated, could increase the risk of several eye problems that may permanently affect your vision.
“Myopia, or nearsightedness, is usually permanent,” ophthalmologist and Manhattan Eye director Yuna Rapoport, MD, MPH, tells WebMD Connect to Care. “There are cases when it is temporary, like when it is secondary to a particular medication, but usually it is from the shape of a person's eye.
In most cases, though, myopia progression tends to slow down or stop by the age of 20, but some studies have shown that it can progress for much longer (sometimes until the age of 35 or 40). It's possible to be diagnosed with myopia during adulthood, but it may be related to other conditions or issues like: Diabetes.
At the age of 20, myopia usually levels off. It's also possible for adults to be diagnosed with myopia. When this happens, it's usually due to visual stress or a disease like diabetes or cataracts.
Spend a lot of time outside
Myopia worsens when one spends too much time in a state of near focus. Activities such as reading for long periods of time or knitting can lead to a worsening of the condition. To prevent myopia from worsening, spend time outside and try to focus on objects that are in the distance.
The main cause of myopia progression is an increase in the eye's axial length. Many factors can contribute to this: Wearing glasses all day, everyday could potentially lead to myopia worsening. If a child has low myopia, glasses should only be worn sometimes, for activities such as watching TV or playing sports.
Generally, wearing glasses with an accurate prescription can provide fast relief. However, some conditions can risk worsening eyesight without glasses, such as high myopia.
When our eyes spend more time focusing on near objects, like phones, screens or even paperbacks, it makes our eyeballs elongate, which prevents the eye from bending light the way it should. This elongation increases nearsightedness, called myopia, which causes distant objects to appear blurred.
Even though the tendency to develop myopia may be inherited, its actual development may be affected by how a person uses his or her eyes. Individuals who spend considerable time reading, working at a computer, playing video games or doing other intense close visual work may be more likely to develop myopia.
Myopia cannot be reversed or cured, but it can be treated. The goals of treatment are to improve your child's vision and prevent it from getting worse. This is important for protecting their eye health in the future, even if they still need glasses or contact lenses.
Prolonged close-up activities. Prolonged reading or other close-up activities are associated with an increased risk of nearsightedness. Screen time. Studies have shown that children who use computers or smart devices for long periods have a greater risk of developing nearsightedness.
Sudden onset myopia is seen in several local or systemic conditions. Local conditions include blunt ocular trauma and ocular inflammation. Systemic conditions include diabetes, pregnancy and certain drugs like hydrochlorothiazide and topiramate.
While myopia may seem to be a common, relatively minor eye condition, if it is left untreated it will progressively become worse. If the severity level of your myopia is high, your macula could tear leading to bleeding in the retina, loss of vision, and blindness.
Myopia, particularly high myopia, not only impacts your vision in the short term, but it can eventually lead to blindness. Studies across the world have shown that myopia can increase your risk of blindness through disorders like macular degeneration, retinal detachment, glaucoma, and cataracts.
It's rare for myopia to continue to get worse as you age past your early 20s. But there are exceptions. This can occur due to continuous elongation of the eye or from visual stress related to near work or other environmental factors. Most people diagnosed with nearsightedness can expect it to stabilize as an adult.
Mild myopia includes powers up to -3.00 dioptres (D). Moderate myopia, a power of -3.00D to -6.00D. High myopia is usually a power over -6.00D.
While there is no cure for myopia, there are a number of treatments that can slow its progression and even halt it completely in children and young teens. Our experts work directly with each family to create treatment plans tailored to your child's specific needs.
Spend More Time Outdoors. Spending less time indoors or in front of screens can help slow the progression of myopia. Having varied scenery to look at and healthy exposure to natural light will ensure that your child's eyes can develop properly.
The definition of high myopia as ≤ −5 D was adopted as the World Health Organization (WHO) definition in 2015. A person who needs ≤ −5 D of correction has a visual acuity that is far worse than the threshold for blindness (–3/6 in the better eye).