By Dr. Dave Anderson
Once again, practice owners please look the other way. Well, actually, this time it may be worth a read as the content here is directed to associates, but it is also something tremendously important in our practices today and in the future.
So, you’ve decided to add a niche, and it just so happens to be one of the biggest game-changing niche services and one of the most important in the past 50 years of eye care: myopia management. But maybe you need some help getting started. The good news is there are many resources available.
Where to Start in Myopia Management?
To put it simply, education is the best place to start to launch off on the right foot in myopia management. Educate yourself, educate your staff and educate your patients.
You have so many more options available than when I first started down the path of myopia management over 15 years ago. I began only with ortho-K, but today, there are other treatment options including MiSight® 1 day* the first and only treatment for myopia control in age-appropriate kids.†
How to Initiate the Myopia Management Discussion?
For years, I have told every single adult parent, regardless of the age of their child, that I should start seeing the child within the first year of their life. I teach parents how their children’s eyes are developing and how they can easily become myopic.
I also stress annual exams, playing outdoors, and that I will carefully watch their child’s treatment results. For a child who already has myopia, I use simple analogies like braces for teeth as a comparison.
Here’s one example of how this conversation plays out in my exam room: “Your child has myopia, which means their eyes are starting to grow too fast. Like a child’s teeth can become misaligned and need treatment, we need to also treat the eyes of a child with myopia. We have great options to help slow this eye growth†‡1 which can also help them see clearly.1-4 The sooner we intervene, the better the outcome your child will have4 both visually and for their long-term ocular health.”5
How to Pick the Best Myopia Treatment for a Child with Myopia
While I think of this as a simple task, it can seem daunting. I consider the parameters of the child’s prescription, the age of the child, and the child’s ability and willingness to wear contact lenses. From there, I share each option and give my recommendation based on what is the best for my patient. I make it a point to reevaluate every 3-6 months to ensure the child is still in the correct treatment plan and adjust accordingly.
Now What?
Well, congratulations on adding myopia management to your practice! If you’re looking for educational resources, turn to CooperVision’s Online Success Center. Once you are comfortable, speak with your staff and your owner about your plans and market away! Use the resources readily available to you from vendors and myopia resources alike.
One last and important thing to note: the cost to getting started in myopia management is next to zero, so this should be an easy sell to the owner/doctor in your practice. You do not need any special devices or tools to begin your path in myopia management. Sure, it is great to have a topographer for fitting ortho-K, but I did this for 10 years without one. It’s also nice to have an axial length instrument to measure eye growth, but the proof is in the patient’s response to treatment. Don’t feel like these pieces of equipment are key to your myopia management success. But more importantly, don’t hesitate to pursue myopia management. I’ve seen firsthand that it can change the lives of young patients with myopia.
Dr. Dave Anderson practices at Miamisburg Vision Care in Ohio. He is a 2004 graduate of The Ohio State University College of Optometry. He is a past president of the Ohio Optometric Association (OOA) and continues to serve on many committees at the state and national levels. He is currently a preceptor for an Advanced Practice Extern site for OSU College of Optometry and has been an investigator in clinical trials for contact lenses and ocular pharmaceuticals.
