The summer holiday is half over, children's unrestrained enthusiasm hasn't waned.
The constant companion of electronic screens,
Immersive reading lying on the sofa,
Staying indoors daily, a severe absence of outdoor sunlight...
The price paid for these indulgent eyes
Manifests as frequent squinting and complaints of "can't see clearly".
With school approaching, children's vision problems
Have become an alarm hanging over parents' hearts.
But is this reversible pseudomyopia,
Or true myopia requiring serious attention?
False alarm, real problem.
How to distinguish between true and false myopia?
01
Myopia is divided into true myopia and pseudomyopia, both presenting with decreased distance vision and good near vision.
Pseudomyopia, also called accommodative myopia, is a temporary blurring of vision. When children stare at near objects for long periods, the ciliary muscle inside the eye continuously contracts like a tightened rubber band. Over time, it temporarily "cramps," unable to relax flexibly, causing the focal point to fall in front of the retina when viewing distant objects, resulting in blurred distance vision. With adequate rest, it can recover to some extent within weeks or 1-2 months. It is a temporary, reversible myopic phenomenon, not a permanent change in eyeball structure, mostly occurring in adolescents.
True myopia involves actual organic changes. When the axial length is continuously elongated, the light's focal point stubbornly falls in front of the retina. Once true myopia forms, it is difficult to reverse through intervention.
Mistaking true myopia for pseudomyopia may miss the best intervention period; mistaking pseudomyopia for true myopia, excessive spectacle wear may instead accelerate myopia progression.
However, whether true myopia or pseudomyopia, both remind us that the child's vision has developed a problem, requiring examination and intervention to control its progression.
Essential Before School Starts:
Professional Examination to Determine True or False
02
Relying solely on a routine vision check or computerized refraction can easily confuse true and pseudomyopia. Medically, cycloplegic refraction (ciliary muscle paralysis refraction) is the gold standard – using special eye drops to completely relax the long-tensed ciliary muscle, temporarily suspending the eye's self-accommodating ability. Refraction at this time: if the myopic degree significantly decreases or even returns to zero, it is mostly pseudomyopia; if the degree remains largely unchanged, it confirms true myopia.
Additionally, axial length is the "core indicator" for assessing myopia progression. Through axial length measurement, the trend of myopia development can be predicted earlier and more scientifically.
Professional ophthalmologists integrate cycloplegic refraction results, axial length data, eye usage habits, and family history to clearly distinguish between true and pseudomyopia, assess risk levels, and ultimately provide personalized prevention and control plans.
A professional vision examination clarifies things for the child. Scientific prevention and control builds a protective wall for the child's vision.
Essential Viewing Before School Starts:
Please Take This Scientific Prevention and Control Strategy!
03
Protecting children's bright eyes requires a multi-pronged scientific prevention and control strategy.
1. Develop Eye-Using Habits
· When reading or writing, keep the chest one fist (6-7cm) from the table edge, eyes one foot (33cm) from the book, and the fingertip holding the pen one inch (3cm) from the tip.
· Follow the "20-20-20" rule: every 20 minutes of near work, look up at an object 20 feet (about 6 meters) away for at least 20 seconds to relax the tense ciliary muscle.
· Create an ideal visual environment: ensure sufficient, uniform lighting; avoid reading in moving vehicles or under dim light. Coordinate screen brightness with ambient light to reduce glare.
· Control the duration of electronic screen use.
2. Utilize Outdoor Sunlight
The intensity of natural light far exceeds indoor lighting, stimulating the retina to release dopamine, effectively inhibiting excessive axial elongation.
Ensure an average of over 2 hours of effective outdoor activity time daily. After school starts, utilize fragmented time between classes, commuting to/from school, and after school – e.g., consider walking or cycling for short distances, looking into the distance outside the classroom during breaks, arranging park visits or ball sports on weekends. Naturally shifting focus between near and far scenery also trains the eye's accommodative ability.
3. Establish a Refractive Profile
A child's vision development is like a sapling, needing scientific cultivation and careful nurturing. Rather than scrambling after myopia occurs, build protection now!
Establish a scientific, dynamic "growth diary" for the eyes – a Children's Refractive Development Profile. Dynamically track key indicators of refractive development, multi-dimensionally assess eye development status, implement precise prevention and control, and formulate the most suitable vision protection plan.
Learn more profile details, see
"Eyes Have a 'Growth Diary' Too? The Sooner You Start This Profile, the Better."
4. Professional Optical Intervention
·
Spectacles: The most common method. Must undergo medical refraction for precise prescription. Glasses with inaccurate prescriptions or large pupillary distance errors increase eye strain.
·
Orthokeratology Lenses (OK Lenses): Reshape the corneal epithelium via fluid dynamics. Worn overnight, they effectively create myopic defocus, providing good unaided vision during the day without needing glasses.
·
Defocus Lenses: Use specific optical designs to make light form myopic defocus images on the retina, intervening and inhibiting axial elongation trends, stabilizing the myopic degree, but require all-day wear during visual tasks. Well-known brands include Xingqukong, Xinlexue, etc.
News Flash: Beware of Counterfeit Lenses!
Recently, police successfully dismantled a large den manufacturing and selling counterfeit famous myopia control lenses, involving huge sums. These fakes attract parents with prices far below market value, with packaging and anti-counterfeit labels highly imitated, even forging NFC chip information to pass some scan verifications.
The microlens design of fake lenses is crude and non-standard, offering far lower myopia control efficacy than genuine products. Long-term wear not only fails to effectively control myopia but may also accelerate vision deterioration due to optical design defects, severely delaying the child's golden period for vision correction!
Reminder: All optical corrections must be obtained through professional medical institutions, strictly evaluated for suitability by ophthalmologists or optometrists before dispensing!
At Renshu ENT Hospital, we gather a team of senior ophthalmologists and professional optometrists. Based on precise examination and assessment, we establish personalized refractive development profiles for children, provide scientifically rigorous vision correction plans, and pave a bright path for children's eye development through long-term systematic follow-up tracking.
As the new semester approaches,
Seize the critical period for vision protection.
Renshu uses science and professionalism,
To guard the starry seas in children's eyes!
