The Inevitable

So, the inevitable has happened – our youngest, Buddy has myopia. A visit to our trusted optometrist confirmed that last month. Sadly.  This is despite our many attempts at avoiding it through good eye-sight habit – ensuring that he reads only in good light, managing his screen time judiciously, bringing him outdoors often and giving his eyes enough rest.

Perhaps it’s hereditary? Perhaps it’s lifestyle?

‘Myopia Capital’ of the world.

Whatever it is, we do live in the ‘Myopia Capital of the world where 65 percent of pre-primary children are myopic by Primary 6. (i.e. 12 years old). Whatever is the cause of his myopia, the key now is to slow it’s progression.

Technology to the ‘Rescue’ – Essilor® Stellest^TM Lenses.

Since Buddy’s myopia prescription is not high, our friendly optometrist at Eyesight.Sg introduced us to Essilor® Stellest^TM Lenses to slow the progression of his myopia.

These lenses, made by Essilor International (the world’s leading ophthalmic optics company) have been clinically proven to delay the progression of myopia by 67% when worn at least 12 hours a day, compared to regular single vision lenses.

How do Essilor® Stellest^TM Lenses Work?

Made from cutting-edge constellation of 1021 invisible lenslet, Essilor® Stellest^TM Lenses differ from the typical lenses on spectacle where the child’s eyesight is corrected through a single vision zone that carries the prescription of the child.  

The single vision zone focuses light onto the retina and provides clear and comfortable vision for the child through creating a volume of signal in the child’s eye acting as a shield against eye elongation – a proven cause of myopia. Thanks to this technology, Essilor® Stellest^TM Lenses have been clinically proven to reduce Myopia progression by 67% on average.

Key Clinical Trial Findings for Essilor® Stellest^TM Lenses:

The Singapore launch follows the ground-breaking two-year results of an ongoing three-year clinical trial on myopic children in China.

Two Year Interim Results:

1. Lenses are clinically proven to slow down myopia progression by 67% on average, compared to single vision lenses, when worn at least 12 hours a day
2. 100% of children wearing Essilor® Stellest^TM Lenses had clear vision, 100% of children adapted to their new lenses within a week; 90% of children fully adapted within three days; and 94% of children felt comfortable with Essilor® Stellest^TM Lenses, demonstrating that the lenses were comfortable, and easy to adapt for children.

Results After 2 Years:

1. Eye growth of 9 out of 10 children wearing Essilor® Stellest^TM Lenses was similar or slower than non-myopic children.
2. 2 out of 3 children who wore Essilor® Stellest^TM Lenses did not need a prescription change after the first year.

These results already demonstrate strong evidence of the lenses’ effectiveness in slowing down myopia progression

Wearing and Using Essilor® Stellest^TM Lenses:

The Essilor® Stellest^TM Lenses feel just like any other lenses and there is no major adjustment for the child except to get used to the wearing of spectacles itself.  This is where a good optometrist will make a difference.

Where to get Essilor® Stellest^TM Lenses:

We got ours from our trusted optometrist, Eyesight.sg, an established optometry situated well-within in the central part of Singapore, within 5 mins walking time from Potong Pasir MRT station. Eyesight.sg has served the families and residents here for around 10 years. They have another branch in Tampines too.

Buddy was served by Ken, the Chief Optometrist who exude a lot of patience in teaching Buddy the proper ways to wear and care for his new glasses. In between, Ken was also obliging to answer our inquisitive little one’s incessant questions especially on the equipment, instruments and accessories.  Boys!

In fact, from Buddy’s questioning, we discovered that Eyesight.sg has some impressive equipment to enhance the precision of myopia evaluation and for lens making as well. In addition, Eyesight.sg has a good range of frames for kids particularly so for an active boy like our Buddy. With the attentive and personable service and coupled with state of the art Essilor® Stellest^TM Lenses, we are confident that Buddy’s myopia will be well-managed.

READERS PROMOTION CODE:

Quote ‘Eyesight Buddy‘ from now till 30 November 2021 to get a FREE Eyesight Test and consult on Essilor® Stellest^TM Lenses at any one of the Eyesight.Sg branches (in Potong Pasir and Tampines)!

To know more about Eyesight.sg: https://www.eyesight.sg/

To know more about Essilor® Stellest^TM Lenses: https://www.essilor.com.sg/products/stellest

References

• ^{Compared to single vision lenses, when worn 12 hours a day. Two-year prospective, controlled, randomized, double-masked clinical trial results on 54 myopic children wearing Stellest™ lenses compared to 50 myopic children wearing single vision lenses. Efficacy results based on 32 children who declared wearing Stellest™ lenses at least 12 hours per day every day. Bao J. et al. (2021). Myopia control with spectacle lenses with aspherical lenslets: a 2-year randomized clinical trial. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci.; 62(8):2888.}
• ^{Two-year prospective, controlled, randomized, double-masked clinical trial results on 54 myopic children wearing Stellest™ lenses compared to 50 myopic children wearing single vision lenses. Results based on 32 children who declared wearing Stellest™ lenses at least 12 hours per day every day. Eye growth of non-myopic children based on 700 datapoints of schoolchildren enrolled in the Wenzhou Medical University-Essilor Progression and Onset of Myopia (WEPrOM) prospective cohort study. Stable correction need defined as a spherical equivalent refraction change on both eyes strictly lower than 0.50D.}
• ^{Two-year prospective, controlled, randomized, double-masked clinical trial results on 54 myopic children wearing Stellest™ lenses compared to 50 myopic children wearing single vision lenses. Results based on 32 children who declared wearing Stellest™ lenses at least 12 hours per day every day. Bao, J. et al. (2021). One-year myopia control efficacy of spectacle lenses with aspherical lenslets. Br. J. Ophthalmol. doi:10.1136/bjophthalmol-2020-318367.}
• ^{Two-year prospective, controlled, randomized, double-masked clinical trial results on 54 myopic children wearing Stellest™ lenses compared to 50 myopic children wearing single vision lenses. Results based on 32 children who declared wearing Stellest™ lenses at least 12 hours per day every day. Drobe B. et al. (2020). Adaptation and visual comfort in children with new spectacle lenses containing concentric rings of contiguous aspherical micro-lenses for myopia control. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 61(7): 9}

^{*Aesthetic finish **Highly Aspherical Lenslet Target}