What is Myopia Control/Management?
Myopia Control and Myopia Management are used interchangeably, both referring to treating myopia.
In other words, Myopia Control/Management refers to purposefully attempting to slow down and stop myopic progression (elongation of the eyeballs) in children and teens, thus reducing the risk of sight-threatening eye diseases later in life.
The following Myopia Control treatments are currently available at Hertzog Eye Care:
Soft Daily Multifocal Contact Lenses
- Brilliant Futures MiSight® 1-Day Multifocals – the only FDA-approved treatment to slow myopic progression; this has become our first line of treatment for most children; learn more about MiSight® 1 Day contact lenses here.
- NaturalVue® Daily Multifocals – work similarly to MiSight® contacts, but are not FDA-approved.
- Biofinity® Monthly Multifocal Torics – for patients that have a significant amount of astigmatism and aren’t able to wear the above 2 contact lens options.
Low-Dose Atropine Eye Drops
This is a nightly drop that stabilizes myopic progression. Dr. Ryan prescribes these for children who are too young for contacts (or otherwise can’t wear them) and for those who are in MiSight/NaturalVue contacts but are still progressing too quickly. For more information about atropine drops, click here.
Other Important Factors that Help Slow Myopic Progression:
We always educate our patients and parents about other ways to help prevent myopia from developing or to slow myopic progression once it has started. Parents – be diligent with your children and follow these recommendations:
- Have your children spend a total of at least 2 hours outside every day – many studies have shown that vitamin D from the sun can have a preventative and stabilizing effect when it comes to myopia (the mechanism isn’t entirely understood); of course one other logical reason for stabilizing the eyes is that when your child is outside, they are generally not focusing up close.
- Restrict recreational device time to 1-2 hours/day; make device time a reward for your child, not the norm.
- While on their devices, have your children keep the device at least lap distance away from their eyes.
What is the Cost?
If we enroll your child into our Myopia Control Treatment Program, we start a journey together with you and your child. We will start monitoring your child’s myopia very closely by measuring both their prescription and their axial length (length of the eyeball) at least twice per year. These metrics will determine how aggressively we need to treat their myopia. Unfortunately, most insurance companies won’t cover these extra exam and test fees because they don’t recognize ‘Myopia Control’ as a medical necessity. As Myopia Control Treatments inevitably become standard of care (as they have in Canada) insurance may start to cover at least some of these fees. Until then, there are some vision plans (like VSP) that will provide some reimbursement for the contact lens evaluation fees. Additionally, these fees would qualify for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) or Flex Spending Accounts (FSAs). Also, we have an interest free payment plan that would spread out the exam/testing fees over a 6 month period. And lastly, we have rebates that greatly reduce the cost of the annual supply of the contact lenses.
Once Dr. Ryan examines your child, he will discuss your child’s specific plan and will discuss fees in detail. Please call our office at 562-597-3100 for more details about our fees and/or to schedule an appointment for your child.
Dr. Ryan is one of the only eye care professionals in the Long Beach area performing Myopia Control/Management on myopic children and teens.
Dr. Ryan has been performing Myopia Management on children/teens since 2019, and treats each patient individually. He will recommend prescribing the treatment option(s) that he feels will have the best results for your child. He has been prescribing atropine drops since 2019, when there really wasn’t any other treatment options available. He has also been prescribing MiSight contacts since 2020 (when they were launched) and has seen great success with all of his young patients.
If you’ve been told that your child has myopia, and they are not in a Myopia Management Program, then you need a second opinion. Your decision to seek help in treating your child’s myopia now will benefit them for the rest of their life!
If you have any questions about Myopia Control/Management or want to schedule an appointment for your child, please call our office at 562-597-3100.
