Photo: Stone RF
Myopia, or nearsightedness, is on the rise. Increasing numbers of adults and children are requiring corrective lenses due to worsening eyesight. One of the major factors here is increased screen time, but there’s also another major contributor.
Optometrist Dr. Amanda Hoelscher says there are actually two main causes of the growing myopia rates. She said those causes are “increased screen time and decreased time outside. Limited time outside strongly affects more people becoming nearsighted.”
It’s not all doom and gloom, though. Dr. Hoelscher says there are some pretty easy ways to help reduce your risk of developing myopia or making it worse. She says the key here is “definitely balance.” In order to achieve that balance, she recommends limiting screen time, taking breaks during screen time to look down a long hallway or out a window, and spending more time outdoors.
Unfortunately, once you already have myopia as an adult, Hoelscher says the only way to reverse it is through surgical procedures like LASIK.
There is good news for parents, however. Dr. Hoelscher says there are several ways that parents can help reduce their children’s risk of developing nearsightedness. She said, “Putting children in bifocal contacts, using what we call atropine eye drops at night, even having kids sleep in a rigid contact lens.”