Progression of myopia for young aduls

[nevergiveup90]

Hi,

I want to ask a question related to a eye problem that I have from 14-15
years old, myopia.

I would like to ask a specialist about the evolution of my desease because I started to get extremly concerned about its evolution.

At this moment (I am 25 years old, female, caucasian white), my prescription is:
- -5.25 left eye and -5 right eye for glasses
- -5 left eye and -4.75 right eye for contacts
My first pair of glasses was at 15 years old(-2.5 left eye and -2.25 right eye), but I know I had vision problems since I was 14 (I remember that I couldn't see so well from behind the class at school). In the summer vacation I has a big increase in dioptres.
When I was in high school, at 16 years old, I got -2.75 and -2.5. My dioptres were constant until my first year in college, when I was 20 years old. I am a computer science student and I spend 12 hours a day working on the computer. Since then, my myopia growth with -0.5 dioptres/year. Since I was 20 years old I started to wear daily contact lenses.
I am extremely worried about the evolution of the disease and about the retina and eye fundus changes that can occur. For the 20-25 years period, my myopia should have a slower increase. My last consultation was in November this year and so far my retina and eye fundus were normal.
Related to the genetical factor, my mother has -4.5 and -3.5 dioptres. In her case, the myopia evolved only between 13 and 15 years old, and since then her diopters stood the same.

My questions are:
- Is my myopia related to the long computer work time that I spend? Should I wear special eye glasses with filters for computer work? Can the contact lenses(by the low cornean oxygenation) be other cause of my myopia
- Does my myopia look like a progressive/malignant one?
- In the case of retinal changes, what treatments do you recommend? Is laser photo coagulation recommended to small retinal changes?
- I love to do mountain bike and running marathons (and endurance sports) and so far I took part in several ones. Am I allowed to continue or this can lead to retina detachments?
- What do you recommend to slower the myopia progression? How efficient would be orthokeratology to slower axial elongation? Is there any practitioner that does orthokeratology and saw improvements for young adults? Other possibilities that I consider are: scleroplasty, progressive lenses, rigid contact lenses, bifocals.

Thank you for your time and help!

[west98671]

Ortho K "may" help when your eyes are still growing during your development as a child/adolescent, but in your case it will do nothing except temporarily flatten your cornea and "correct" your nearsightedness until your eyes resume their normal shape.  Axial growth of your eye is like growing tall.  Some people grow taller and some people's eyes grow longer.  If you are destined to have a long axial length, there is little you can do to stop it.  Just like someone destined to be 6'3" cannot make themselves 5' tall.

In regards to your ortho K lens question, yes, ortho k lenses are "hard" but not in the same way that RGP lenses are.  RGP lenses are meant to correct your nearsightedness through providing a minus power lens which focuses the light properly on your retina.  Ortho k lenses are meant to flatten your cornea and create an artificial and temporary decrease in your nearsightedness.

[nevergiveup90]

By the way, aren't orthok lenses rigid ones ?

[nevergiveup90]

Why is not orthok a solution for progressive myopia? I read a lot of clinical studies conducted by different institutions from all around the world. The majority of them reported a decrease in the axial elongation about 50 %.

http://scholar.google.ro/scholar?hl=ro&q=orthok+axial+elongation&btnG=
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthokeratology#Research_into_slowing_of_myopia

[west98671]

Hi.

At your age, your myopia should be stabilized.  Most people stabilize in their teens or twenties, but it can sometimes take longer, especially for people with higher degrees of myopia.

Your myopia is still at a level that is considered moderate.  There are many people with prescriptions much higher.  It is debated quite a bit, but it is very unlikely that computer work will cause your myopia to increase.  From the sounds of it you do not have pathological myopia, so other than eye strain or dry eye, you should not have any concern about "near work."

From what you wrote, you have had eye exams and they have been normal, so you do not need to worry.  Live your life.  Be careful about activities that jar the head around violently (football, bungee jumping, etc.) but other than that you should be fine.  Biking and running will not affect your eyes.

Ortho K will not help you at all.  Regarding your question about oxygen and your contacts, you should be fine as long as you follow your dr.s orders about length of wear time.  I would recommend RGP contacts if you don't wear them already.  Not because they will improve your myopia, but because they have superior oxygen permeability and sharper optics.

Hope that helps!