Myopia management for kids in New Albany, Ohio.
If your child's prescription has gotten stronger every year, or you're hearing that's "just how it goes," you have more options than you think. Myopia management is a clinical approach to slow how fast your child's nearsightedness progresses, with the goal of protecting their long-term eye health, not just selling them stronger glasses.
The science has changed a lot in the last decade. We now have four well-studied tools that, used the right way, can meaningfully slow myopia progression. Drs. Karres, Keller, and Dennis will help you figure out which one fits your child best.
Why myopia control matters more than the prescription.
Most parents think of nearsightedness as inconvenient: a stronger prescription every year, foggy glasses, dry contacts, trouble seeing the board. That's the visible part. The reason myopia management exists is what's happening underneath.
Myopia is the eye growing too long, front to back. As it grows, the retina at the back of the eye stretches with it. That stretching, over decades, raises the lifetime risk of nearsightedness and long-term eye health risks:
Retinal detachments and tears
The elongated eye stretches the retina until it tears or detaches.
Myopic maculopathy
Degenerative changes in the central retina that can permanently reduce reading and driving vision.
Glaucoma
High myopia roughly doubles the lifetime risk.
Earlier cataracts
Myopic eyes tend to develop cataracts a decade or more earlier than average.
These risks scale with how myopic the eye becomes. A child who reaches –6.00 carries dramatically more lifetime risk than one we slow to –3.00. That's the goal of myopia management: not perfect vision, but a less-myopic eye than the child would otherwise have had.
Myopia control options.
We offer four well-studied approaches to slowing myopia progression. Each one works differently, and the right choice depends on your child's age, lifestyle, prescription, and how quickly their myopia is changing.
Stellest Spectacle Lenses
Newer-generation spectacle lenses with hundreds of tiny lenslets across the surface that reshape how light focuses on the retina, in a way that helps slow the eye's growth. Worn like normal glasses, all day. Published trials show myopia-slowing performance comparable to atropine and contact lens approaches.
The big advantage: kids who aren't ready for contacts, can't tolerate atropine, or whose families prefer not to use drops can still get meaningful myopia control through glasses they were going to wear anyway.
MiSight 1 day Soft Contacts
The first FDA-approved soft contact lens for myopia control in the US, designed for kids 8 to 12 at the start of treatment. Daily disposable, so there's nothing to clean. The lens has a special concentric ring design that gives clear central vision while sending a peripheral signal to the eye that helps slow growth. A great option for kids who prefer soft contacts to overnight wear and aren't ready for ortho-k.
Orthokeratology (Ortho-K)
A custom gas-permeable contact lens worn overnight that gently reshapes the cornea while your child sleeps. They wake up, take the lens out, and see clearly through the day with no glasses or contacts. Particularly good for active kids: swimmers, athletes, anyone who finds daytime contacts inconvenient. Multiple studies show it slows axial elongation. Read more about Ortho-K at COVE →
Low-Dose Atropine Drops
A nightly drop, applied at home before bed. The dilution is much weaker than the drops we use in office (typically 0.025% or 0.05%), so kids generally don't notice blurriness or light sensitivity. Atropine has the longest research history of any myopia treatment and is often the most affordable option. It can also be combined with one of the contact lens or spectacle approaches above.
Side-by-side at a glance.
Each treatment has a different fit: different compliance requirement, different wear routine, different starting-age guidance. This comparison covers the practical details most families ask about first. For a plain-English walkthrough of how each approach works, read our guide to the types of myopia control.
| Treatment | Best for | How it's used | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stellest spectacle lenses | Kids who aren't ready for drops or contacts | Worn like regular glasses, all day | Same form factor your child would wear anyway |
| MiSight 1 day soft contacts | Kids who want a daytime option with no maintenance | Inserted each morning, thrown out at night | FDA-approved for ages 8–12 at the start of treatment |
| Ortho-K | Active kids, swimmers, athletes: anyone who'd rather wear nothing during the day | Custom contact worn at night while sleeping | Clear vision all day with no glasses or contacts |
| Low-dose atropine drops | Often used as a second-line option, or in combination | One nightly drop at home | Longest research history; can layer with the others |
What a myopia management consult looks like.
A myopia management consult is more than a regular eye exam. We measure:
-
01Refraction: current prescription and how it's changed.
-
02Axial length: the actual front-to-back length of the eye, the most accurate marker of myopia progression. We track this every six months to know whether treatment is working.
-
03Corneal topography: a detailed map of the front of the eye, especially important if ortho-k is on the table.
-
04Binocular vision: how the eyes work together, which sometimes contributes to focusing problems that mimic worsening myopia.
We also want to understand your child's habits: screen time, time spent outside, reading distance, and family history. Time outdoors genuinely matters: the research consistently shows kids who spend more time outside have slower myopia progression. We'll talk about practical changes alongside clinical treatment.
If your child has never had a full eye exam with us, we'll typically pair the consult with a pediatric eye exam so we have a complete baseline.
There isn't one best treatment. There's the one that fits your child and your family. We look at several things together:
- Age and progression rate. Kids whose myopia is changing fast, or who started myopia very young, are the highest-priority candidates and may benefit from combination therapy (e.g., atropine plus Stellest).
- Lifestyle and activity. Active kids, swimmers, and gymnasts often do well with ortho-k. Kids who are sensitive about wearing contacts may prefer spectacle-based options.
- Compliance. Atropine requires a nightly drop. Ortho-K requires nightly insertion. MiSight requires daily insertion. Stellest just requires wearing the glasses we'd be making anyway.
- What's been tried. If a child is already in glasses or contacts that aren't working, we know more about how their eyes respond.
We talk through the trade-offs and pick the approach that's most likely to work in real life, not just on paper.
What myopia management costs at COVE.
Pricing depends on which approach we land on:
Stellest
MiSight 1 day
Ortho-K
- All three are FSA and HSA eligible. We accept VSP and EyeMed; coverage varies by plan and we verify your benefits before the visit.
- VSP: applies a material benefit toward Ortho-K and MiSight lenses, and a frame allowance toward Stellest. Professional fees for fitting and follow-ups aren't covered.
- EyeMed: covers professional services for Ortho-K, may apply a material benefit toward MiSight, and offers some coverage for Stellest lenses and frames.
We verify your specific benefits before the visit so you know what to expect. Anything not covered is FSA/HSA eligible.
The COVE myopia management commitment.
Kids' eyes change during treatment. Each option has a path for keeping up:
- Ortho-K: we keep working with the fit until the vision is right.
- Stellest: remake policy applies if there's a 0.5 D change (about 2 clicks on the prescription).
- MiSight: we can exchange unused boxes if the prescription changes.
Why families come to COVE for myopia management.
Dr. Keller has been a pediatric eyecare specialist for over two decades, is an InfantSEE provider, and has examined thousands of children across Central Ohio. Dr. Karres has years of clinical experience fitting ortho-k and specialty contact lenses, and his research interests include atropine for myopia management: one of the treatments we use to slow progression. Together they handle the full range of cases, from the first-time young myope to the kid who's already tried two or three approaches without success.
What that means in practice:
-
i.We don't rush the consult. Picking a myopia treatment is the start of a multi-year relationship: we want it to be the right one.
-
ii.Research interest in atropine for myopia control. Atropine is one of the four treatments we use to slow myopia progression, and it's a specific research interest of Dr. Karres. He brings that depth to the treatment-selection conversation. Learn more about specialty contact lenses at COVE →
-
iii.Deep pediatric experience. Dr. Keller has examined thousands of children through clinical care and InfantSEE, and has reached 13,000+ Ohio students through the Realeyes Classroom Education Program. Learn more about pediatric eye exams at COVE →
-
iv.We stand behind the materials. Kids' eyes change mid-treatment, and each option has a path for keeping up: with Ortho-K we keep working the fit, Stellest has a remake policy at a 0.5 D change, and MiSight boxes can be exchanged when the prescription shifts.
Myopia management is a multi-year commitment, not a one-time intervention. We measure, we adjust, and we keep the treatment calibrated as your child grows: because the goal isn't just slowing progression today, it's protecting vision for the next fifty years.
We see patients from New Albany, Gahanna, Westerville, Johnstown, and across Central Ohio. If you're not sure whether your child's progression rate warrants treatment, the consult will give you a clear answer.
Frequently asked questions.
Q.01 At what age can my child start myopia management? +
There isn't a hard age cutoff. Many kids have a reasonable option:
- Stellest spectacle lenses for kids who aren't ready for drops or contacts
- MiSight 1 day soft contacts for kids who want a low-maintenance daytime option
- Ortho-K for kids who'd rather not wear anything during the school day, at sports, or in the pool
- Low-dose atropine drops as a second-line option or in combination
The right starting point depends more on your child's comfort, lifestyle, and rate of progression than on a specific age. We'll talk through fit and readiness at the consult.
Q.02 How quickly will we know if it's working? +
Q.03 What if the first treatment we try isn't working? +
Q.04 Does vision insurance cover any of it? +
Coverage varies by plan, but here's what we typically see with the carriers we accept:
- VSP: applies a material benefit toward Ortho-K and MiSight lenses, and a frame allowance toward Stellest. Professional fees for fitting and follow-ups aren't covered.
- EyeMed: covers professional services for Ortho-K, may apply a material benefit toward MiSight, and offers some coverage for Stellest lenses and frames.
We verify your specific benefits before the visit so you know what to expect. Anything not covered is FSA/HSA eligible.
Q.05 Not sure if myopia management is right for your child? +
Schedule a myopia management consult.
If your child's prescription keeps changing, or you're tired of accepting that as normal, give us a call. We see patients from New Albany, Gahanna, Westerville, Johnstown, and across Central Ohio.
5.0 on Google · 1,100+ reviews from families across Central Ohio.
“couldn’t be more thrilled” · “worth the drive”
Read the reviews for yourself on Google →Related reading: orthokeratology at COVE · specialty contact lens overview · pediatric eye exams at COVE · binocular vision dysfunction (headaches, eye strain) · types of myopia control, explained