Wearing high power bifocal lenses shows better protection for children’s eyes over the long term.
Wear contact lenses to prevent vision problems from getting worse. This is the idea expressed in research published in the Journal of American Medical Association. Researchers conducted an experiment with 394 children with an average age of ten. Wearing contact lenses made it possible to limit the progression of their myopia.
The researchers divided the children into three groups: the first wore conventional contact lenses, the second high-power bifocals and the last bifocals with medium power. These devices make it possible to have two corrections: one for distance vision, and the other for reading.
A marked slowing down of myopia
At the start of the study, each of the children had eye exams, then regularly for three years. At the end of this period, the sight of the children evolved differently according to the group in which they were. Those who wore single lenses had a strong aggravation of their myopia (-1.05 D), those who wore medium power bifocals had slightly better results: their sight decreased by -0.89 D. Children who wore bifocals of high power had the least worsening of myopia: -0.6 D. Compared to the table used to examine the sight, these children managed to read two additional lines downwards, compared to the others.
There is no age to wear contact lenses
The study’s lead author, Jeffrey J. Walline, is pleased with these results in the New York Times. According to him, “contact lenses have benefits for children”. “They like the way they look, it improves their self-esteem and they make it easier for them to participate in activities and games. In addition, they help slow the progression of myopia, so why not use them?”. Wearing contact lenses in children may surprise you, but the National Union of Ophthalmologists confirms that it is suitable for the youngest. “Our children can also be equippedindicates the organization on its site. But it will be a more delicate adaptation with more frequent checks. There is no age limit for putting on contact lenses and it is common to adapt young myopes aged 10 or 11.” For these specialties, it is a way of “smile” to myopic children!
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