How Multifocal Contacts Combat Rising Child Myopia Epidemic

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A staggering 35% of children worldwide now have myopia, with numbers projected to hit 40% by 2050 – affecting over 740 million kids globally.

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Children develop myopia when their eyes grow too long from front to back, causing distant objects to appear blurry – and traditional glasses only correct symptoms, not the underlying problem.

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University of Houston researchers discovered that high-add multifocal contact lenses not only slow myopia progression but provide lasting benefits even after children stop wearing them.

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What makes these multifocal contacts different? They're designed with a "bullseye" pattern – central zone for distance vision, outer rings to control eye growth.

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The BLINK Study reveals the biological mechanism: children wearing these specialized lenses experienced thickening of the choroid – a vital blood vessel layer that nourishes the retina.

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Dr. Berntsen's team studied 281 myopic children aged 7-11 over three years, with remarkable results – the high-add multifocal lens group maintained thicker choroids and showed less eye elongation.

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Regular single-vision lenses focus peripheral light behind the retina, actually stimulating more eye growth – while multifocal lenses create "myopic defocus" that signals the eye to slow down.

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The findings showed that increased choroidal thickness after just two weeks predicted which children would benefit most from treatment over the entire three-year study.

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Most exciting for parents: the BLINK2 Study confirmed that benefits continue even after children stop wearing the specialized lenses, with no "rebound effect" seen with other treatments.

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By starting early with multifocal contacts, children might avoid serious complications of high myopia later in life – including retinal detachment, glaucoma, and cataracts.

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