Common types of myopia and treatment methods

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted by an eye doctor - Department of Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital
Refractive errors in general and myopia in particular are the leading causes of vision loss in the world today. This visual disturbance can get worse over time. In addition to causing impaired vision, myopia can change the structure of the eye, putting patients at risk for future eye disease. People with myopia should know how to distinguish different forms of myopia in order to have appropriate treatment.

1. What is myopia refractive error?

Myopia is one of the most common refractive errors, people with myopia can often only see objects that are close, but have difficulty seeing objects far away. Because the observed image is focused in front of the retina, so when nearsighted people look at distant objects, they often have to squint.

2. Symptoms of myopia

With nearsightedness, the patient will have difficulty seeing distant objects. Other signs and symptoms of nearsightedness include:
Blurry vision when looking at distant objects; Frequent squinting; Headache due to eye fatigue; Hard to see at night. Usually myopia can be detected early in school age (school myopia or congenital myopia). In particular, the telltale signs of myopia in children are as follows:
When watching TV, children have to get close to see it; Reading articles or skipping lines or having to use your fingers to follow the words when reading; In class, children have to get close to the board to see; When writing, many words are misspelled, missing, or have to be copied; Or crouched down to look at the book; Squinting or tilting the head when looking at distant objects; Rubbing his eyes even though he's not sleepy; Often complains of eye strain, headache or watery eyes; Afraid of light or being dazzled, dislike activities that must see far....

3. Myopia classification

3.1. Simple Myopia This is the most common type of myopia, usually seen in school-age children, between 10 and 18 years old. People with simple myopia often have a myopia of less than 6 diopters and are often accompanied by astigmatism. The cause of myopia is simply due to the eyes often working at close distances, lack of light at work-study places or low light intensity. Simple myopia is often caused by working conditions and genetics. The disease tends to develop over a period of time and stop to a certain extent.
3.2. Induced Myopia Or Acquired Myopia is caused by nuclear sclerosis, as a side effect of exposure to certain prescription medications, from high blood sugar (diabetes) and some other reasons.
3.3. Pseudo Myopia occurs when the eyes increase accommodation, the ciliary bodies responsible for correcting the eye's accommodative ability constrict, causing a temporary impairment of distance vision. Symptoms of false myopia are the same as normal myopia, but the eyes will recover after a period of rest.

3.4. Degenerative Myopia Or Pathological Myopia This is the most severe type of myopia, patients usually have myopia of more than 6 diopters accompanied by retinal degeneration in the posterior hemisphere of the eyeball. When suffering from degenerative myopia, the eyeball axis is continuously lengthened, causing the degree of myopia to continuously increase, the condition of myopia is getting worse and worse. The disease will be even more dangerous if not treated promptly, causing diseases such as retinal degeneration, retinal detachment, glaucoma... seriously affecting eye health. However, this disease is quite rare and often develops at an early age, so parents should regularly take their children to a reputable eye hospital to promptly detect school myopia and treat it.

4. Can myopia be cured?

Myopia can be cured with eye surgery. However, children under the age of 18 are not old enough to have refractive surgery. Therefore, the most optimal treatment for nearsightedness is to wear glasses or orth-k glasses (night contact lenses). For children with myopia, parents need to take their children to have regular eye exams (3-6 months/1 month). times) to check the progress of myopia, change glasses in time to help children see better. Failure to change glasses periodically will cause a child's vision to decrease, wearing the wrong glasses will cause the eyes to adjust more, and the nearsightedness will increase faster.
Some current treatment methods for myopia include:
4.1. Wear rimmed glasses

This is the most common, least expensive solution to correct nearsightedness. People with myopia often use diverging lenses. However, framed glasses will bring inconveniences to users such as: Less participation in strong sports activities, blurred vision when it rains. In addition, this is only a temporary solution, not completely treated and can only be used for a certain time, must replace new glasses when myopia increases.
4.2. Wearing contact lenses Soft contact lenses are also the solution chosen by many people. The advantage of contact lenses is high aesthetics, the disadvantage is that you may be allergic to contact lenses if your eyes are sensitive, your eyes are easily dry. In addition, contact lenses that are not cleaned properly can cause eye infections. Patients have to change glasses when they expire, and the cost of each replacement is relatively high.
4.3. Temporary corneal correction by Ortho K

This method is used to correct myopia for people who are not old enough for surgery (under 18 years old) or who do not want surgery. Ortho K is a nighttime contact lens, temporarily eliminating myopia by the ability to correct the cornea. However, when stopping use, the cornea will gradually return to its original curved state, not completely correcting myopia refractive error. In addition, this method also has the disadvantages of being less effective with severe myopia, only having a temporary effect, the price of Ortho K glasses is expensive and there is still the possibility of eye infection.
4.4. Refractive error surgery The advantage is that it is effective, high in safety, has a short recovery time and can completely treat refractive errors. However, the cost of surgery is still high and many people are still afraid to move "cutlery" in the eye area.
4.5. Phakic surgery This method is also called intraocular lens placement, usually applied to patients with high myopia but not eligible for refractive surgery. The downsides are the risk of glaucoma, the potential for inflammation, and the longer recovery time than with refractive surgery.
4.6. Vitreous replacement surgery The last method in the treatment of this refractive error is only indicated when the patient has too high a nearsightedness that cannot be operated by other methods.

5. Where is the prestigious place to treat myopia?

The Ophthalmology Department of the Inter-Specialist Department - Vinmec Times City International General Hospital is a sub-discipline of medicine specializing in eyes and eye-related diseases. The department has a comprehensive vision and eye health care function for children, adults and the elderly, including refractive error testing, general examination, diagnostic ultrasound, laser treatment and surgery. In addition, Ophthalmology has the task of coordinating with other clinical departments in the treatment of pathological complications and eye injuries caused by accidents.
The team of ophthalmologists - Vinmec Times City International General Hospital is experienced, has implemented many types of surgery from routine to difficult surgery, especially techniques that require aesthetics. . With enthusiasm and love for the profession, the team of doctors working at Vinmec Times City always gives customers the best services with the highest service quality. The list of doctors with Ophthalmology expertise here includes:

Dr. Raicel Palma Vecino : Completed residency program in Cuba, with more than 09 years of experience in ophthalmology and worked in many countries such as Cuba, Venezuela; Assoc. Dr. Hoang Thi Minh Chau: With more than 39 years of experience in ophthalmology, former Deputy Director of National Eye Hospital, former head of corneal conjunctivitis department of Central Eye Hospital and currently working at Interspecialty Department of Ophthalmology. Vinmec Times City International General Institute; Assoc. Dr. BS. Pham Thi Khanh Van: With more than 37 years of experience in ophthalmology, former head of Corneal Department of Central Eye Hospital, Professional Advisor at Department of Ophthalmology at Hanoi Medical University. Currently, Dr. Van is working at the Eye Unit, Inter-specialty Department of Vinmec Times City International Hospital; BSCKI. Le Thi Phuong Thao: With more than 6 years of experience in ophthalmic treatment. BS. Thao graduated as a General Doctor at the Moscow Medical Academy named after Sechenov, Russian Federation (2002 - 2009), graduated from the I Ophthalmology Department at Hanoi Medical University, participated in many training courses in ophthalmology. and is a member of Vietnam Ophthalmology Association, Hanoi Ophthalmology Association; Assoc. Dr. Dao Thi Lam Huong: With more than 34 years of experience in the treatment of eye diseases, former head of the Glaucoma Department of Central Eye Hospital and currently working at the Interspecialty Department of Vinmec Times City International Hospital.

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