VIDEO: Educating clinicians and parents about myopia risks

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Eye doctors are getting it: I think they’re attending lectures at the American Academy of Optometry next month, for example, [and] I imagine any lecture or paper presentation on childhood myopia and treatment will be oversold, standing room only. But the parents are a different kettle of fish.

You can imagine how hard it is to explain to the parents, you should treat your child now with one of these treatments that, to the best of my knowledge, in most places in the country are not covered by vision or medical insurance. And what you’re going to prevent is your child possibly having visual impairment when you are long gone; there you’ve got your 10-year-old child and you’re trying to prevent visual impairment when they’re 70. That’s a hard thing to explain to people. Compare it in your head to what, probably the orthodontist says to parents, right? Parents are going to see a real-time effect of a child getting bracelets on their teeth. There’s some health aspects, but they’re also going to see a real-time cosmetic effect.

There’s no cosmetic effect that parents are going to see if they treat their child’s myopia. They can’t tell the kid’s eyeball is long. Maybe their glasses are going to be a little thinner or they’ll be a little less dependent on their glasses, but the parents aren’t going to be able to see any effect.

So I think that message about, you know, this is a treatment we can apply now that will enhance the quality of your child’s life long after you are gone is one. You just have to keep repeating it.