For over 11 years, Hillcrest Vision has served people and families, caring for their healthy vision and improving overall vision health, as well as calculating the degree of far and nearsightedness. Dr. Juawana Hall is a known, loved, trusted, and highly regarded professional in her field, and she truly cares about improving the vision of her patients.
“For kids,” shared Dr. Hall, “we’re at a crossroads with vision. Increased usage of technology has had a profound impact on nearsightedness in children over the years. Still, this year, digital education and more screen time for kids are taking a severe toll. Most eye doctors would agree that the greatest threat to children’s vision these days is nearsightedness (or myopia).
“At Hillcrest Vision,” she continued, “We are thrilled to be among the first around to offer MiSight, a revolutionary new product from CooperVision. It’s been used successfully in Canada, the UK, and even Asia for the last few years, and now, it’s available in America. The results are incredible.”
Dr. Hall explained that MiSight is a contact lens that slows the progression of nearsightedness in children. “It’s a contact lens that is specifically designed for children between the ages of 8 and 15,” she said. “The best way to explain it is that it trains the zones of the eyes and tells the eye not to elongate or grow, which is the cause of nearsightedness.”
She said, “With our kids in front of screens and computers more than ever, we’re seeing a huge increase in vision issues in this age bracket, and even more troubling is the fact that once kids in this age develop nearsightedness, the progression is staggering in this age range. During their clinical trials, the MiSight lenses were used on children between 8 and12, for six years. The progression of their nearsightedness decreased by 59%. That is huge! The benefits of that kind of decrease in vision loss cannot be underestimated, especially as children become adults.
“Right now,” Dr. Hall continued, “MiSight is only available in a contact, but it’s a daily disposable contact lens. We have not seen any issues with eight-year-olds learning how to wear and maintain the lens. We expect that in the next year or two, there may be an option for glasses. Right now—they are in clinical trials.”
For children who may be complaining of headaches or sitting closer to screens or the television, it may indicate that vision needs to be tested. Another telling sign is when children who once loved to read begin putting down their books out of frustration.
School has been hard enough on kids in the last year, and with 65% of learning being visual, we need to do our part to make sure they can correctly see what they need to see in order to help them in school—whether at home or in the classroom.
Hillcrest Vision is located at 2431 Winterhaven Lane in Winston-Salem. Call them at 760.2020, visit them online at HillcrestVision.com and be sure to “like” them on Facebook and follow them on Instagram.
