Attendees at this year’s AOA meeting participated in a quick game of $1 or Mystery Gift! Participants answered a question about myopia management.
Myopia, once considered a minor and easily correctable condition, has now become a global health crisis, especially in East and Southeast Asia. The rapid increase in its prevalence is concerning, as it is associated with serious complications that can threaten vision in its severe and pathological forms. Complications such as myopic maculopathy, retinal detachment, glaucoma, and choroidal neovascularization can all result in irreversible vision loss.1
Lens Design
Pediatric Treatments
General Lens Information
Pediatric Optometry Facts
Customizing management strategies to the distinct needs of different life stages — from infants to elderly patients — supports a more targeted, evidence-based approach to prevention and control.2
Current management options focus on slowing axial elongation through low-dose atropine, myopia-control contact lenses and spectacles, and orthokeratology. Behavioral interventions, particularly increasing time spent outdoors, offer an accessible complement to these optical and pharmacological strategies. For advanced cases, surgical correction remains an important component of comprehensive myopia care.1,2
Despite the expanding toolkit, challenges persist: variability in treatment practices, insufficient long-term data, and significant barriers to patient adherence and access. A comprehensive, patient-centered approach — one that accounts for these realities — is essential to meaningfully reducing the lifelong burden of myopia.1
