“My Child Got Contact Lenses At Age 7 - And It Stopped Her Myopia Getting Worse”
The latest studies show contact lenses can slow myopia or nearsightedness in kids - but are they safe? Alana Ting got her contact lenses at age 7. Her mother explains how they changed her daughter’s life
By Tara Barker -
Myopia, also known as nearsightedness, is a condition in which people can see near objects well but have difficulty seeing things far away. Singapore has one of the highest rates of myopia in the world. According to studies by the National Eye Centre, 10% of Singaporean children will be myopic by age five, with 80 per cent of us myopic at 18 years old.
Untreated myopia doesn't “go away” or get better either. It either stabilises, or it gets worse. But now there’s increasing interest in using special contact lenses to control myopia in children.
Myopia occurs when a child’s developing eyes grow too long from – front to back. Instead of focusing images on the retina – the light-sensitive tissue in the back of the eye images are focused someplace in front of the retina. As a result, people with myopia can see things that are close up, but struggle to see things far away.
Single vision prescription glasses and contact lenses can help your eyes focus, but they don’t treat the underlying problem – that too-long eyeball. But dual focus contact lenses are shaped like a bullseye. The center “bullseye” portion of the lens corrects nearsightedness so distance vision is clear. The outer portion of the lens adds focusing power to bring peripheral light rays into focus in front of the retina. This increase in light stimulates the eyeball to stay the right size. It doesn’t get longer, and myopia slows down, or stops.
Orthokeratology (ortho-k) lenses are also being used to slow myopia in children. They work by pressing on the cornea of the eye and reshaping it during sleep so children can wake up to temporary clear vision during the day. But is it safe for children to wear contact lenses? And what do you need to know?
Alana Ting started wearing her contact lenses at age seven
Fashion entrepreneur Dr Fock Ee-Ling, 40, is mother to eight-year-old Alana Ting Xian Ya, who started wearing contact lenses at age seven, to slow her progressive and severe myopia. Alana’s eye problems started at age five. “She complained of having poor vision. Other symptoms we noticed were frequent squinting and looking out of the corner of her better eye when she was watching television.”
Alana’s two brothers also have myopia, but it’s much less severe. Her 11-year-old brother and her fraternal twin brother both have stable Degrees of Myopia (DOM) at around -2.00 diopters.
But with Alana, it was different - her nearsightedness kept getting worse. Dr Fock knows how difficult it can be to live with bad sight. “I am extremely myopic. I am even classified legally blind, as both my eyes have a DOM of -10.00 diopters. I was diagnosed at age seven, and my condition progressed every year, even with prescription glasses. It wasn’t until my doctor recommended rigid, semi-hard contact lenses in high school that my myopia began slowing down. By then I already had a myopia degree of -6.00 diopters.”
Alana’s parents took her to Consultant Ophthalmologist, Dr Cheryl Ngo. After various eye tests, Dr Ngo diagnosed Alana with a myopia degree of -0.75 diopters and prescribed atropine eye drops and progressive lens spectacles to try and stop her myopia from progressing.
But within months Alana complained of poor vision again. Tests revealed her myopia had increased another 1.5 diopters, which led to a higher lens prescription, and a higher dose of eye drops. But it was no use. Despite tests, different spectacles, and stronger eye drops, Alana’s myopia kept increasing. By the time she entered Primary 1, her DOM had progressed from -4.5 to -4.75 diopters. That's when Alana's mother began to consider whether contact lenses might help?
Trying contact lenses
“I was worried because her eyesight was regressing at a much faster rate than mine had, at her age.” After discussions with. Dr Ngo, Alana’s parents opted for daytime dual focus contact lenses for Alana, both because of their safety record, and because the lenses are disposable. This reduces potential chances of infection as children don’t have to clean the lenses after use.
Says Dr Fock, “Alana agreed to try contact lenses because she is more open to new things compared to my sons. Alana had her first lens fitting with an optometrist at age seven. During the fitting, the optometrist encouraged Alana to touch and feel a trial pair of lenses. The optometrist also taught Alana different techniques for keeping her eyes open and how to insert and remove the lenses herself.”
“We returned to the optometrist a few days later for a second fitting, and Alana managed to get her lenses in and out by herself. The optometrist also gave us four trial pairs of lenses so that Alana could practice inserting and removing her lenses, and get used to having them in for a longer time.”
Getting comfortable with lenses
Alana's mother admits it did take her daughter a while to get comfortable with her lenses. “But now she wears them all day, four or five times a week. She only goes without them when she wakes up late for school,” she says.
The best part is that Alana’s myopia has finally stabilised. It’s been a year since she started wearing contact lenses and her DOP has remained unchanged since she started – it’s still -4.5 to -4.75 diopters. Dr Fock admits, “I was sceptical that the contact lenses could slow Alana’s myopia. They haven’t reversed her short-sightedness, but they have definitely stabilised it.”
While Dr Fock and her husband are thrilled with this, they’re very careful to train Alana in the proper care of her lenses. As well as reminding Alana to take her lenses out at the right time, and demonstrating how to put lenses in and out correctly, her mother ensures Alana washes her hands thoroughly before touching her lenses. “And I make sure she takes her lenses out immediately if she experiences irritation. We make sure there is an extra pair of lenses or reading glasses in her school bag, so she can change her lenses or just wear her glasses.”
Encouraging eye-healthy habits, like outdoor play
Alana's mother also encourages eye-healthy habits, like limiting screen time and encouraging outdoor play. “It’s hard because Alana’s a bit of a bookworm. But I try to ensure she reads in proper light and rests her eyes after reading. I also try to involve my children in more outdoor activities as exposure to UVB rays slows down the progression of myopia.
"I believe my two sons have better vision than Alana because they’re swimmers who get more sun - so I make it a point to encourage Alana to swim and play outside more.”
Keep a lookout for these signs: holding books, tablets, or homework close to the face, sitting close to the TV, squeezing or closing one eye to read, frequent headaches, and very watery eyes.
One of the simplest lifestyle changes is more outdoor time. UVB rays stimulate dopamine from the retina, which slows down the growth of the eye. Certain spectacles and contact lenses are also effective in controlling myopia progression in children.
A six year clinical trial into children who wore contact lenses, found that those who wore dual focus contact lenses enjoyed a slower progression in their myopia than those who used regular contact lenses. And if the children who wore regular lenses switched to myopia management lenses, their myopia progression also slowed down.