For years, the standard thinking in optometry was that your eyes stopped changing once you reached your early 20s. We called it “stabilisation.” But in the 2020s, the “rules” of vision have shifted. At Oakes Opticians, we are seeing a significant rise in adult myopia progression—where that familiar distance blur keeps creeping up, year after year, long after it was supposed to stop.
The Rise of the “Digital Eye”
Why is this happening? The culprit is often prolonged “near-work.” In our current era, many adults spend upwards of 8 to 10 hours a day tethered to high-resolution screens. This constant near-focusing places immense stress on the eye’s internal muscles. Emerging research suggests that for nearly 20% of adults, this environmental strain can trigger “adult-onset” myopia or cause existing prescriptions to worsen.
New Tech: Stopping the “Creep”
The good news is that the same revolutionary technologies used to help children are now being adapted for adults. We no longer have to just “strengthen the prescription” every year; we can actually work to stabilise it.
- Soft Myopia Management Lenses: Advanced daily-disposable lenses, such as MiSight 1 day and ACUVUE Abiliti, feature specialised optical zones. While the centre corrects your vision, the outer “treatment zones” create a specific type of defocus on the retina that acts as a stop signal for eye growth.
- Lifestyle Shifts: Small changes make a big impact. We advocate for the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. This simple habit “resets” your focus and reduces the mechanical strain of near-work.
How Oakes Opticians Protects the Next Generation
While adult management is about stability and comfort, for children, it is about prevention. At Oakes Opticians, amongst the optical services we offer, we also provide pediatric myopia management to reduce the risk of sight-threatening conditions later in life, such as glaucoma or retinal detachment.
We help kids through:
- Bespoke Assessments: Using non-invasive technology to measure the precise axial length (growth) of the eye.
- Dual-Focus Lenses: Comfortable soft lenses that allow kids to play sports and stay active while slowing down their prescription change by up to 50% or more.
- Specialised Spectacles: Innovative glasses like Zeiss MyoCare or Hoya MiyoSmart that look like regular lenses but carry powerful myopia-fighting tech.
Take Control of Your Vision
Whether you’ve noticed your own distance vision slipping or you want to give your child the best start for their eye health, we’re here to help.
Ready to stop the progression? Book a consultation with Oakes Opticians today, and let’s keep your world in focus.