Myopia Management

Dr. Marvin is one of only a handful of providers in the St. Louis area certified in the MiSight Brilliant Futures program. As an advanced nearsighted patient herself, she is passionate about improving the quality of life for nearsighted children in our community and preventing her patients from experiencing the negative outcomes often seen in advanced nearsightedness. Simply ask for more information at your child’s annual exam to see what the Brilliant Futures Program can do for them!

Myopia, or more commonly known as nearsightedness, is a growing epidemic in the United States and worldwide. In the early 1970s, only 25% of Americans had myopia.

Today, more than 40% of Americans have myopia and that number is increasing at an alarming rate, especially among school-aged children. This increase in myopia incidence can be linked to genetics and lifestyle. If a child has two myopic parents, their risk of developing myopia increases to a 1 in 2 chance. Additionally, this increase is also linked to the high amount of screen time and less time spent outdoors by children today. Once a child reaches the threshold and progresses into advanced nearsightedness, requiring a correction of 5 diopters (-5.00) or more, they run an increased risk of problems later in life that can often lead to devastating and permanent vision loss, like retinal tears or detachments, myopic maculopathy, glaucoma, and more.

In the past, our only option to treat nearsightedness in children was yearly exams and an increase in correction in glasses or contact lenses to allow them to see as clearly as possible. Now, we can do much more to slow the progression of myopia and prevent these serious conditions from developing later in life. MiSight 1 Day contact lenses, the only FDA certified lenses approved to treat myopia progression, have shown clinically to decrease the progression of nearsightedness in patients over 50%. Not only does this prevent children from developing these serious conditions later on, but it can greatly improve quality of life and help develop their confidence!