The ophthalmologist spoke about the impact of gadgets and heredity on children's eyesight

Many parents, trying to protect their child's eyesight, turn to folk methods — compresses, warming up or eye massage. However, such methods have no scientific evidence and do not affect the development or progression of myopia. The ophthalmologist, ophthalmic surgeon of JSC "Medicine" (academician Roitberg clinic), Candidate of Medical Sciences Sino Goziev told Izvestia about this.

"In an effort to protect a child's eyesight from myopia, many parents sometimes resort to folk methods, but it is important to understand that such remedies as warming up with hot stones, compresses or even eye massage and special massagers, unfortunately, do not have scientific evidence of their effectiveness. They have no effect on the development of myopia or on slowing its progression," the doctor emphasized.

Goziev noted that the key factors that really affect eye health are the illumination of the workplace, the duration of visual load and timely correction of vision using glasses or lenses selected individually for all necessary distances. The ophthalmologist added that children who spend a lot of time with gadgets in their hands are especially at risk, and this burden is aggravated by the presence of a genetic predisposition.

"The simplest, safest, and at the same time proven way to reduce risks is for a child to stay outdoors every day. It is recommended to spend from one and a half to two hours a day outdoors — this is an effective preventive measure," the expert explained.

If myopia has already been diagnosed, modern ophthalmology offers several scientifically proven methods to control its progression. These include special glasses that not only correct vision, but also slow down the development of myopia, orthokeratological (night) lenses, as well as therapy with low-dose atropine drops.

"As for specialized hardware techniques, they can be used in combination, but only as prescribed and under the strict supervision of a doctor. Thus, in matters of eye health, one should rely not on myths, but on methods with proven effectiveness," concluded Goziev.

On September 24, Igor Aznauryan, a pediatric ophthalmologist, MD, professor, founder and head of the Association of Children's Eye Clinics "Clear Gaze", spoke about the signs of visual impairment in a schoolboy. It was clarified that with the beginning of the school year, the visual load on children increases dramatically, which poses a serious threat to vision, which is especially vulnerable at school age.

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