special glasses to slow down myopia and reduce the risk of glaucoma or cataracts

Little known to the general public, special glasses have been able to slow down myopia for around ten years. The effects are proven in children and adolescents.

It is possible to slow down myopia! For around ten years, techniques that are relatively unknown to the general public, glasses and special lenses, have made it possible to slow the progression of a disorder that affects a lot of French people.

Nearly four in ten adults (37%) and one in five children are myopic, according to a large study carried out by Poitiers University Hospital. For six years, he analyzed anonymous customer data from the Krys optician group. However, the higher the myopia, the greater the risk of developing an eye disease (glaucoma, cataract, retinal detachment), of the order of 40% more per diopter less (- 1.0, -3.0, -5.0 on your prescriptions for lenses and glasses). The effects of these methods curbing myopia have been proven in children and adolescents.

In the office of Dr. Sirine Hammoud, an ophthalmic surgeon in Paris, Salim, a 13-year-old schoolboy, confirms this: “I look better with these new glasses. It took me a few days to adapt, I had the impression of seeing the world in slow motion, but now I have less difficulty seeing small details, both in the distance and very close. I thought there were going to be positive effects but not as many as what she explained to me. I’m quite happy.”

Relief also for Bouchra, Salim’s mother. His son’s eyesight was deteriorating; he had been wearing glasses for eight years already, before wearing these brake lenses. They are designed to bring the entire field of vision to the front of the retina, which slows down the enlargement of the eye, and therefore myopia: “At each appointment, we learned that his eyesight had deteriorated. We wondered when and if this story was going to end. Now, it hasn’t changed for six months, so that’s encouraging.” By wearing these blocking glasses, which look similar to conventional glasses to the naked eye, until he is at least 18 years old, perhaps even 25 years old, until his eye and vision stabilize, Salim should not see his myopia worsen too much. He could thus be operated on later, as an adult. And no longer have to wear glasses or contact lenses.

“Whatever you can save in myopia for one day to have surgery, it is better to do it!”

Ophthalmologist Sirine Hammoud

at franceinfo

Ophthalmologist Sirine Hammoud insists: “Myopia is not just about poor vision. It also means having a slightly greater risk of glaucoma, retinal detachment, and other pathologies later in adulthood. Afterwards, we would like although these techniques are also intended for people who do not necessarily have a lot of financial capacity.” Because the problem is that these glasses, sold for only three years in France, are poorly reimbursed by mutual insurance companies and health insurance. The same goes for specific lenses, day and night, which have been on the market for around ten years, and which have a lesser effect.

Salim’s mother, for example, had to pay 220 euros out of her own pocket. What Professor Dominique Brémond-Gignac, head of the ophthalmology department at Necker hospital, regrets: “Some families cannot afford the additional cost. It’s still a shame because these corrective lenses reduce myopia by 60%. I say that it slows it down, it doesn’t stop it completely. Because the child continues to grow, and the eye will continue to grow normally. We would like it to work 100%, but no system works for sure.”

Braking is therefore not a miracle cure for children and adolescents. And start as an adult, “it is often too late, since myopia develops mainly during childhood”, explains Professor Claude Speeg-Schatz, ophthalmologist at Strasbourg University Hospital, specializing in pediatrics, and former president of the French Society of Ophthalmology. No study has yet been carried out on adults starting to wear brake lenses.