——"Myopia Prevention and Control, Health Education" Series of Popular Science (2)
Zhang Chan Gao Fulin, Department of Ophthalmology, Characteristic Medical Center (formerly 306 Hospital).
Edited by Liu Yan/Cui Yan, Medical Science Popularization Center
The prevention and control of myopia in children and adolescents has become the focus of attention of contemporary parents, in addition to paying attention to children's eye development and fundus conditions, another focus is to pay attention to the eye axis and farsightedness reserve. The axial length is not only used as the basis for myopia screening and prediction, but also as an indicator to test the effectiveness of myopia prevention and control, and some myopia is caused by refractive error caused by excessive corneal curvature. Therefore, if you want to do a good job in the prevention and control of myopia in childhood and adolescence, it is particularly important to measure the axial and corneal curvature and establish a refractive case file.
Measuring the axial eye is essential
Under normal circumstances, the child's height and weight are matched with the eye axis, and it is normal for age, height, and weight to increase, and the eye axis to increase accordingly, and the farsighted reserve to decrease accordingly. However, if the eye axis is too long and the farsighted reserve is rapidly reduced, it is an abnormal situation, and parents must pay attention to it.
For those who have insufficient farsightedness, too long eye axis or have myopia, they should first take their children to the hospital for dilated refraction and examination to confirm whether they are truly myopic and whether they wear glasses. If it is judged to be true myopia, it is recommended to wear glasses to correct it immediately, procrastination and evasion will only make myopia progress faster and things worse.
Precautions for wearing glasses
If there is a change in the power or interpupillary distance, the glasses should be changed in time, the child may be afraid of the deepening of the power and will be scolded, parents must take the initiative to take the child to check the eyesight regularly. Don't always take off and wear glasses after fitting, and ensure the wearing time of glasses, especially some prevention and control lenses, to ensure that they are worn throughout the day, so as to better delay the growth of myopia.
It is urgent to prevent and control myopia
Outdoor activities: Studies have shown that increased light levels promote the production and release of retinal dopamine, causing changes in downstream signaling pathways, while increasing the strength of scleral fibers and delaying axial growth.
Defocus: Retinal hyperopia defocus leads to accelerated axial growth, so reducing or eliminating retinal hyperopia defocus can delay axial growth and control the progression of myopia in children.
Orthokeratology lenses: This is an important option for myopia control, which reshapes the corneal surface when worn at night, changes the corneal curvature to temporarily reduce the refractive power of myopia, and has a similar effect as defocusing lenses to eliminate peripheral retinal hyperopia defocus, which can delay the growth of the eye axis.
Low concentration of atropine: by paralyzing the ciliary muscle to allow it to relax and regulate, it can also delay the progression of myopia by antagonizing M receptors on the retina and choroid. It can effectively prevent and control myopia in children and adolescents.
In daily life, we should also pay more attention to the prevention and control of myopia, so that children can develop a correct learning posture, so as to achieve three "ones", that is, "eyes away from a foot, chest from a fist, pen from an inch", to create a bright learning environment; after continuous learning for 40 minutes, you need to relax and look away for 5~10 minutes. Strictly limit your child's use of electronic devices, get enough sleep, and use eye drops such as sodium hyaluronate eye drops to relieve eye fatigue when the eyes are tired. Try to have a balanced diet, eat more vegetables and fruits, and avoid too many sweets.
All in all, prevention is better than correction, and in study and daily life, I hope that all children and parents can protect their eyesight and win the protracted battle of myopia prevention and control.
(The picture comes from the Internet)