At Southwest Eye Care, serving Bakersfield, CA, and the surrounding region, we offer myopia care. We can diagnose this condition through a vision exam or an eye exam. Our goal is to help you see clearly, whether that means with contacts, glasses, or a combination of both. Discover more about what an eye exam for myopia entails as well as what options an optometry specialist on our team can provide you in terms of treatment.
General Information About Myopia
Myopia is a medical term for nearsightedness. With this eye issue, you can see objects up close clearly. Your distance vision is affected by myopia, meaning that objects far away will appear blurry.
This is a refractive error caused by light not focusing on the retina properly. Specifically, the light enters your eye and will aim in off your retina rather than directly on it.
Who Gets Myopia
As a general rule, many people who have myopia are diagnosed with it during childhood. The refractive error usually plateaus at some point, but for other people, it can worsen with age.
Sometimes, an adult who's never had problems with his or her vision can be diagnosed with myopia.
Diagnosing and Treating Myopia
To diagnose myopia, an eye doctor on our team will provide you with a vision exam or an eye exam. During this eye exam, the optometrist may have you look through a machine. You then read the lines of letters and determine which one you can see clearly. Based on the results, our optometry specialist can determine if you have myopia.
We can diagnose children at a very young age with myopia as well. If your child is too young to read letters, we can use shapes for the vision assessment.
Myopia control usually consists of glasses or contacts. Then, you may need to visit us routinely to get your eyes examined to see if your prescription changed. At that point, we'll update your prescription, so you continue to see clearly.
Particularly with children, eye care for myopia is meant to slow the progression and preserve as much of your child's vision as possible. We may prescribe atropine drops to help prevent your child’s myopia from getting worse.
Visit Us for More Information from an Eye Doctor on Our Optometry Team
At Southwest Eye Care, serving Bakersfield, CA, and the general vicinity, we provide eye care for people with myopia. It begins with an eye exam, and then we'll help you find the vision correction most suited to your lifestyle and preferences. We help children as well. Book an appointment with us by calling (661) 833-4040.