Why is Myopia developing and how to return good vision?
Why myopia develops
There are many causes of myopia. But the main of them, doctors consider the following:
- excessive visual work at close range,
- hereditary predisposition,
- a weakened sclera that does not provide adequate resistance to excessive eye growth,
- insufficiently developed accommodation muscle of the eye, which is responsible for the adaptation of the lens to different distances.
Symptoms of Myopia
As a rule, myopia develops already in childhood and becomes quite noticeable in school years. Children begin to see worse objects worse, do not distinguish letters and numbers written on the chalkboard, try to sit closer to the TV or in the front rows in the cinema, their vision is impaired at dusk. When trying to examine distant objects, shortsighted people often squint their eyes.
Diagnostics
Only a specialist can determine the degree of your myopia and choose the most suitable treatment method. Ophthalmologists of the Eye Microsurgery Center will conduct the necessary examination using high-precision equipment. Diagnosis of myopia requires the following studies:
- visual acuity tests;
- determination of the refraction of your eyes and the degree of myopia;
- measuring the length of the eye in the ultrasound diagnostic room. This is an important and very accurate study, according to its results the doctor judges the progression of myopia;
- studies of corneal topography;
- measurement of the thickness of the cornea at its various points;
- fundus examination to assess the condition of the retina, blood vessels, optic nerve.
This is a general examination scheme for patients with myopia, but if necessary, the doctor may prescribe additional studies.
To improve vision, shortsighted people are forced to wear glasses or contact lenses with a negative value. However, one should know that glasses and contact lenses cannot stop the development of myopia - they only correct the refraction of light. Often there is a need for frequent change of glasses due to visual impairment. If vision deteriorates, and the glasses have to be changed to stronger ones, then myopia is progressing. This is due to the increasing stretching of the eyeball.
Progressive myopia is not a harmless visual defect eliminated with glasses, but a disease with serious consequences!
Stretching of the eyeball leads to the fact that the vessels inside the eye lengthen, the nutrition of the retina is disturbed, and visual acuity decreases. The retina, like a stretched tender veil, “spreads out” in places, holes appear in it and, as a result, its detachment may occur. This is the most serious complication of myopia, in which vision is significantly reduced, to complete blindness. Progressive myopia most often affects children from 7 to 15 years.
Remember! A timely visit to an ophthalmologist will help you prevent formidable complications of myopia and save your eyesight!
Treatment
Doctors distinguish the following main areas of myopia treatment:
- stopping the pathological growth of the eye (scleroplasty, collagenoplasty);
- prevention of possible complications of myopia (laser coagulation);
- correction of myopic eye refraction with the disposal, if possible, of wearing glasses and contact lenses (laser - laser keratomileusis, implantation of an intraocular lens).
Scleroplastic surgery is performed to stop the growth of the eye. During such an operation, strips of biological materials are introduced behind the eyeball, which, like a bandage, cover the eye and prevent it from stretching. Over time, these materials grow into vessels and the eye begins to receive more blood and nutrients than before scleroplasty. Scleroplastic operations are performed on an outpatient basis, their duration is from 5 to 15 minutes.
Laser coagulation is performed to prevent complications of myopia. The laser beam “welds” the retina to the choroid in weak places and around its gaps, preventing the most severe complication of myopia - retinal detachment.
When the pathological growth of the eye is stopped and the prevention of complications is carried out, the most important question arises: how to find a natural perception of the world in its natural sizes and colors, how to get rid of creating so many complexities and fettering internally thick lenses?
Today this problem is being successfully solved thanks to a new direction in ophthalmology - refractive eye surgery. Its founder in the world is Professor S.N. Fedorov.
Lasik is the last word in laser myopia surgery. The main advantages of these operations are painlessness and the highest accuracy of exposure.
This operation is performed on the basis of accurate computer calculations using a special excimer laser, without opening the eyeball. In laser keratomileusis, a corneal flap with a thickness of 100-130 microns is formed, which reclines like a “lid”. Then the laser cornea is evaporated and made more flat, after which the “cap” is returned to its place.
