New study confirms effectiveness and safety of Atropine eye drops therapy to stop myopia in children and young adults. The study has just been published in the prestigious journal Ophthalmology (December 2020), the official organ of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (Scientific Society of American Ophthalmologists). Atropine 0.05% eye drops instilled once a day before going to sleep for a year has in fact significantly reduced the progression of myopia according to the study published in the prestigious journal. This therapy had no negative effects on the patients’ quality of life and did not produce any negative effects on the cornea or lens.  

Myopia: Atropine therapy

The growth of myopia was significantly reduced by the new therapy because it reduced the elongation of the eye typical of people with myopia. Those who suffer from myopia have a longer eye than normal and this produces a stretching of the internal structures of the eye, primarily the retina. Retinal stretching puts short-sighted people at greater risk of serious complications such as myopic maculopathy or retinal detachment. The new myopia therapy is therefore advisable for children and young adults who already have initial myopia and a significant risk of growth of the same myopia. The expert ophthalmologist will be able to advise you on the new therapy to stop myopia as well as on other existing therapies. Among the latter, Orthokeratology deserves a mention, presented for many years as the solution to stop myopia and indeed in our opinion a therapy not free from even serious complications. 

Myopia: Therapy with Orthokeratology 

Orthokeratology is based on the application of contact lenses exclusively during the night to then see better in the morning without having to wear glasses or contact lenses. Orthokeratology contact lenses deform the cornea during the night so as to change its curvature and therefore its refractive power during the day. It’s basically as if a person who wants to appear slim wears a corset at night to have less belly during the day. The real risk is that the deformations produced by contact lenses could in the long run ruin the cornea itself. Orthokeratology has a transitory effect and works only when myopia is modest. 

Myopia: Is limiting cell phones and tablets useful? 

An increasing number of scientific studies demonstrate that the number of hours spent in front of cell phones and tablets per day, as well as reading and studying, is associated with a greater progression of myopia in predisposed subjects. Conversely, the number of hours spent outdoors per day has a protective role on the progression of myopia.

Myopia: Laser intervention when stable

The definitive solution to eliminate myopia remains laser eye surgery. We would like to remind everyone that this operation is not recommended before the age of twenty or so and in any case before the myopia has been stable for at least a year. One of the most frequent causes today for laser retreatment is in fact the premature treatment of the visual defect.