Progression of myopia

[spycat]

Hi

I have just been diagnosed with myopia. It seems to me to have come on very quickly as 18 months ago there was no sign of it. I am aware that it is likely to get worse but being only 24 I am worried that if it continues at this rate I will have a lot of trouble seeing later in life. I am especially concerned as my other eye is long-sighted and this means I need 2 pairs of glasses, which I hate changing and carrying around with me. I am worried that progression of my myopia will only make this problem worse.

so my questions are:

a) how bad is my myopia likely to get and how quickly? My current prescription is -1.25
b) is there any way of getting around the 2 glasses problem so I only need one pair for most work?
c) is there anything I can do to improve, or at least slow down, my myopia?

thanks!

[Flavius G Pernoud III, MD]

I don't understand the need for 2 pairs of glasses. Unusual to suddenly develop myopia at your age. You need to check with an ophthalmologist EyeMD. Rule out diabetes, keratoconus, and cataract. Also, you need a cycloplegic refraction--that is a check of your prescription with your eyes fully dilated. This paralyzes the focusing muscle. Sometimes young people are capable of tricking the examiner--not on purpose--into thinking they need something other than what is the true correction.

[spycat]

Thanks, that kind of confirms a lot of my own suspicions about it. My optician seemed to think developing myopia at 24 was nothing to worry about and even accused me of over dramatising it! I will get a 2nd opinion, I can't just see an MD unfortunately as I have to struggle with the NHS referral system and my GP doesn't like to refer eye problems without first being told to by an optician.