Regular eye exams important to avoid myopia: expert

Myopia is a condition that causes distant objects to appear blurry. Optometrist and president of B.C. Doctors of Optometry Dr. Evelyn Lo joined CTV Edmonton Morning Live’s meteorologist Cory Edel to speak about the importance of protecting your child’s eye health.

 

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

 

Cory Edel: Regular eye exams are essential for protecting your child's eye health. Myopia is what we're going to be talking about today. What is myopia?

Dr. Evelyn Lo: Myopia is a vision condition where you can see well up close, so objects are clear, and then things in the distance are actually a little bit blurry.

Cory: Is there a cause?

Dr. Lo: We know that this tends to happen in our childhood and that (it) can actually slowly worsen as we get into our adulthood.

Cory: So being that it happens in our childhood, we can then get ahead of this or get on top of it. How do we do that?

Dr. Lo: There's definitely options now to help slow down the rate of myopia. There are soft contact lens options, one of them being the MySite one-day lens from Coopervision. It does two things: number one, it corrects the vision; number two, it slows down the rate of myopia by up to about 59%.

Cory: Wow, that's huge. Is it common, myopia?

Dr. Lo: It's very common. We know that by about 2030 it's been projected in North America, about 50% of the population will be near-sighted.

Cory: A lot of kids are heading back to school. Is this a good time of year to think about taking our kids to the optometrist?

Dr. Lo: Absolutely, I would say there's always a time to see the actual optometrist for your regular eye exams, and it's important, because any time that there is a slight bit or sign of myopia, you have to start that discussion and treat early.

Cory: Kids grow up and get older, maybe they didn't have the eye exams when they were younger, and now you're a teenager or an adult. Is it too late?

Dr. Lo: Well, obviously earlier is better, but coming in at any point in time is better than not coming in.

Cory: At this time of year, when you do have the young kids coming in, is there an age that is appropriate to bring your child in, or can they come in at a fairly young age?

Dr. Lo: They can definitely come in as young as about six months. That's when we start doing our exams, initially. Then it should be for kids annually.

Cory: So when you say a kid, a child, six months, maybe a parent is thinking, "Well, they're not going to be able to communicate to you whether they can see something clearly or not." Do you have ways of examining them?

Dr. Lo: We definitely do. One of the ways we do that is we shine some lights in their eyes, and by doing that, we can see the reflex of what that is supposed to look like. From there, we're able to identify what that prescription is.

Cory: Fascinating. That leads into a question for others who are maybe non-verbal, maybe they're on the spectrum, or an elderly person. That's the same way correct?

Dr. Lo: Yes, that is correct. It should be annual for anyone who is growing. For adults, it depends on what's going on in the eyes. If it's happening that you have some retinal conditions or conditions inside the eye, it's important to be seen at least annually. But definitely check in with your optometrist.

Cory: Are there other indicators that we might notice?

Dr. Lo: Blurry vision is one. If you feel and experience any discomfort in the eyes, that would be another way. Of course if you start to notice that there is redness in the eyes, that would also be a sign to go see and visit your local optometrist.

Cory: Perfect. For more information about myopia, you can visit coopervision.ca and as a reminder, please talk to a qualified eye care professional before making any healthcare decisions or for guidance about specific medical conditions.