Follow-up study finds staying power of bifocal contact lens benefits in young kids

Young nearsighted kids who wear bifocal contact lenses that slow uncoordinated eye growth do not lose the benefits of the treatment once they stop wearing the lenses, research shows.

The study is a follow-up to a trial showing that soft multifocal contact lenses with a heavy dose of added reading power dramatically slowed further progression of myopia in kids as young as 7 years old.

In the trial, nearsighted kids wore high-add bifocal lenses for two years followed by one year with single-vision contact lenses. Results showed no evidence that the treatment effect declined, and myopia progression then continued at age-expected rates.

In nearsightedness, or myopia, the eye grows and is stretched into an elongated shape.

Multifocal contact lenses for nearsighted patients correct for clear distance vision and include focal power that allows eyes to read near work clearly.

In the original study, 294 nearsighted children aged 7-11 years were randomized into one of three groups of contact-lens wearers. Those who wore the lenses with the highest added power, 2.50 diopters, had shorter eyes and slower rates of myopia progression than the kids in the other two groups after three years.

Of the original participants, 248 continued in BLINK2, during which all—then aged 11 to 17 years—wore the high-add lenses for two years followed by single-vision contact lenses for the third year, a method used to see if the benefit remained after discontinuing the bifocal treatment.

At the end of BLINK2, eye growth returned to age-expected rates and there were no signs of faster-than-normal eye growth. Participants who had been in the original BLINK high-add group continued to have shorter eyes and less myopia at the end of BLINK2, meaning those who started high-add bifocal lenses in BLINK2 did not catch up to those who received the treatment when younger.

The bifocal lenses appear to allow the kids to use a much lower power up close, helping them to not stress the eye muscles as much, leading to less elongated. This kept their eyes from worsening at an accelerated pace.

I understand that for each -1 diopter we get, the eye is lengthened by a millimeter.

An aside from personal experience:

I was able to reverse some diopters by learning to relax my inner eye muscles. I dropped my prescription in both eyes by 1.25. Basically, you open your eye lids wide open and a sympathetic muscle reaction can help your stressed eye muscles relax a bit, letting you focus just a little further away.

For me, I bought glasses that subtract off my contacts’ prescription, to view things up close without causing eye stress. You can practice the eye muscle relaxing with or without correction. However, if you improve, you need to further back off your prescription. So if I had eyes at -3.00 diopters, I would use reading glasses to add back what I needed to make it just barely blurry at the distance I normally use up close. I have glasses that net me -1.25 diopters as I improve, by increments of 0.25 diopters.

I just had the first worsening since my “fix” four years ago, so I am back to relearning how to relax my eye muscles, yet again.

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I’ve used the soft bifocal contacts for many years now. My eyes have generally stayed at the same prescription or gotten stronger over that time. Since cataract surgery in 1 eye (which no longer needs correction) I am wearing 1 bifocal contact, with the prescription in that eye holding steady for many years now. I can function just fine with no correction at all in a pinch. For young people it’s definitely worth doing if you can (not everyone is a candidate).

“Since cataract surgery in 1 eye (which no longer needs correction)”
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My 1 eye surgery resulted in double vision at a distance. (Seeing 2 seagulls instead of one).

Especially for the extra expense and long preparations I miss my glasses.

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