Are GP Contacts Able to Slow Down Myopia Progression in Youth?

There has been research done that shows that GP contact lenses could be able to decrease the progression of myopia in some of the youth.

Teenagers who have myopia (nearsightedness) usually have “progressive myopia” meaning their myopia becomes greater with time in a progressive fashion. If not controlled early on, nearsightedness can cause a higher occurrence of complications like retinal tears and detachments, glaucoma, cataracts, and a low quality of life.

There have been studies done recently that have shown that there are some types of contacts that can reduce the speed of the eye growth that causes increased nearsightedness. These contact lenses have the ability to slow down or halt the progression of nearsightedness.

GP contact lenses and Myopia Progression

There was a survey done in the year 2000 for the Contact Lens Manufacturers Association whereby more than 3,300 top contact lens practitioners were asked about managing myopia with GP contact lenses. Among those surveyed, 76% stated the best reason for recommending GP contacts to school-aged kids is either to “slow the progression of myopia” or to “enhance vision.”

A few research studies have shown that even though standard GP lenses worn by certain children could cause less myopia progression as opposed to wearing soft lenses or glasses, they are ineffective in slowing eye growth.

Research On Myopia Control

An interesting thing is that there are GP lenses specifically manufactured to be used for overnight orthokeratology (also known as corneal reshaping, corneal refractive therapy, and Vision Shaping Treatment). When these are worn on a nightly basis, the lenses have been found to hinder eye growth by more than 50% when comparing them to soft lenses and glasses, based on studies by Drs. Jeffrey Walline, Pauline Cho, and Helen Swarbrick.
There was another study, which was published in November 2014 in the journal Ophthalmology, which found no eye growth for one year in eyes that wore overnight orthokeratology lenses. In this research, participants wore the traditional daytime-wear GP lenses in one eye — which in fact displayed growth during the period in which the study took place — and orthokeratology lenses in the next eye.
These particular designs reshape the surface at the front of the eye (the cornea) and also reduce the nearsightedness in qualified participants when they wear them at night only, which allows wearers the ability to not have to wear contacts or glasses during the day time.

These particular contacts used to hinder or halt myopia progression — usually overnight orthokeratology, and to a lesser degree, specially-designed soft lenses — can focus light on the rear end of the eye (the retina) such that it signals the eye to hinder or halt its lengthening process.

This is especially interesting since in the next years to come it’s quite possible that contact lenses will be introduced that may be worn on a temporary basis by young children at night until their eye growth has effectively hindered. Afterwards, they may no longer be required to wear any type of vision correction at all.

If you are looking for contact lenses to correct your vision, feel free to visit our website at www.eyelookgood.com where we provide a wide range of contact lenses from top brands like Acuvue, for different vision needs.

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