Nearsightedness: Will My Child's Vision Get Worse Without Glasses?

Myopia, or nearsightedness, is a common refractive eye problem in children as young as 10. Corrective glasses can treat this problem, but what happens to your child’s vision if they don’t use them? Does their vision worsen, or stay as bad as it currently is?

To determine what happens to kids with myopia who don’t get treatment over time, we examine myopia’s signs, causes, and treatments. If you live in the Pelham Gardens section of the Bronx, New York, and your child is showing signs of nearsightedness, the team of vision specialists at Bronx Eye Associates can help.

Understanding myopia

How we see is related to the shape of our cornea, the clear section in the front of the eye that light passes through to get to your lens and retina. People with myopia have corneas, lenses, or eyes that are misshapen, resulting in faraway objects looking blurry.

Estimations indicate that over 40% of Americans struggle with myopia, and most get the condition before they reach 20. Additionally, the condition is on the rise in school-age children.

Symptoms and causes

While we understand that the curvature of your cornea is the primary reason people have refractive errors like myopia, the exact cause is still undetermined. Genetics is known to play a role, and if one or both parents have myopia, children are far more likely to have it as well. 

Spending lots of time indoors working on computers, watching extensive amounts of TV, or reading books close up can also increase your risks of nearsightedness.

Blurred vision with objects farther away from you is the primary sign of this refractive problem, but other symptoms include squinting, tired eyes, eyestrain, and headaches. Having these problems in school can lead to missing important information due to poor vision, resulting in worse grades, and a shorter attention span. 

The consequences of not getting treatment

Myopia control refers to slowing down the progression of myopia. Corrective lenses such as glasses, Misight® contact lenses, and specialized eye drops are common types of myopia control. Without one of these options, your child’s eyes may never improve, and seeing the world around them will always be more difficult.  

Myopia can worsen with age or may level off once your child is grown. Whether or not your child’s eyes worsen without corrective treatment depends on how bad their nearsightedness is, as severe cases can lead to other eye problems, including glaucoma, cataracts, and retinal detachment.

If your child is showing signs of nearsightedness or other refractive errors in their vision, make an appointment with the team at Bronx Eye Associates today to get them the help they need.