Your Child's Prescription Got Stronger Again. Here Is What You Can Actually Do About It.
Medically reviewed by Dr. Massimo Gramanzini, OD
Your child just had their back to school eye exam and the number on the prescription went up again, just like it did last year. You order new glasses, tell yourself this is just what happens with kids, and move on. Except it is not just what happens. A child’s nearsightedness, called myopia, is not a random event. It is a growing eye, and that growth can often be slowed down.
If you are a parent in Davie, Plantation, Sunrise, Weston, or Cooper City getting ready for the new school year, this is the time to look at your child’s vision differently.
What Myopia Actually Is
Myopia happens when the eyeball grows slightly too long from front to back, or the cornea, the clear front surface of the eye, curves a bit too much. Either way, light focuses just in front of the retina instead of directly on it. Distance objects blur. Close up things stay clear.
Here is the part most parents never hear explained. The eye is still growing during childhood, and every bit of extra elongation adds to the prescription. A stronger prescription each year is not bad luck. It is a direct measurement of how much the eye grew that year.
New Glasses Are a Signal, Not a Solution
Glasses do a good job correcting blur. They do nothing to slow the eye from continuing to grow. So a child can wear a perfect pair of glasses and still have myopia progressing underneath, year after year, with the only proof being a stronger number at the next exam.
That yearly jump in prescription should be read as information, not routine maintenance. It is telling you the eye is still changing, and it is worth asking whether anything can be done about the growth itself, not just the blur it causes.
Why the Long Term Picture Matters
Higher levels of myopia are associated with a greater lifetime risk of retinal detachment, glaucoma, and early cataracts. None of these develop overnight, and none of them are guaranteed. But the risk rises with the degree of nearsightedness, which is exactly why slowing the progression while your child is young has value that extends decades into their future.
A stronger prescription each year is not bad luck. It is a direct measurement of how much the eye grew that year.
Signs Many Parents Miss
Kids rarely announce that their vision is getting worse. They just adapt. Watch for:
- Sitting very close to the television
- Squinting to see the board at school
- Headaches after school or homework
- Holding a tablet just a few inches from the face
- Frequent eye rubbing
- A drop in grades, or trouble tracking a ball during sports
Any one of these on its own might mean nothing. A few of them together, especially heading into a new school year, are worth a proper look.
How We Measure Growth, Not Just Guess at It
Most offices track myopia the way most parents do, by watching the glasses prescription change. At Family Eye Center, we also measure the actual physical length of the eye using an instrument called the IOLMaster. This is called axial length measurement.
Axial length matters because it changes before the prescription does. If a child’s treatment is working, we can see it in a stable axial length reading at a follow up visit, months before it would ever show up as a change in glasses power. That means you are not waiting a full year to find out if a treatment plan is doing its job. You get an objective number, not a guess.
Five Ways We Manage Myopia Progression
There is no single right answer for every child. We walk through options plainly and match them to your child’s age, activity level, and whether they are ready for contact lenses at all.
- MiSight 1 day soft contact lenses. These are daily disposable lenses, so there is no cleaning or storing cases. MiSight is the only contact lens FDA approved specifically for slowing myopia progression in children, approved in 2019. They suit kids who are ready for the responsibility of daily contacts.
- Essilor Stellest spectacle lenses. These look like an ordinary pair of glasses, which makes them the option for children who are not ready for contact lenses. The lens has a clear center for normal vision, surrounded by rings of tiny lenslets that change how light focuses at the edges of the retina and slow the eye’s growth. In the manufacturer’s two year trial, children who wore them consistently had myopia progression slowed by an average of 71 percent compared with children in ordinary single vision lenses. The FDA authorized Stellest in September 2025, making it the first spectacle lens cleared in the United States for slowing myopia progression, for children who begin treatment between ages 6 and 12.
- Ortho-K with Paragon CRT lenses. These are rigid lenses worn overnight that gently change the curve of the cornea while your child sleeps. They come out in the morning and vision is clear all day with no glasses or contacts needed. This suits active kids, swimmers, and anyone who does not want to deal with lenses during the day. You can read more on our ortho-K management page.
- Multifocal contact lenses. These lenses have different zones of focus built in, which changes how light lands on the peripheral retina and appears to slow eye growth. They can be a good fit for children who do well in soft lenses but are not candidates for MiSight.
- Low-dose atropine eye drops. These are prescribed at a low, compounded concentration and used nightly. They suit families looking for a drop rather than a lens, or children who cannot tolerate contacts of any kind.
You can read a full breakdown of these approaches on our myopia management page.
What a Myopia Management Visit Looks Like
The first visit is more thorough than a standard eye exam. It includes a full eye exam, an axial length measurement with the IOLMaster, and a conversation about your child’s daily habits, screen time, and activity level so we can recommend the option that fits your family.
After that, follow up visits are typically every six months to check axial length and update the plan. Children in ortho-K or multifocal lenses are often seen a bit more often at first, roughly every three to four months, so we can confirm the lenses fit well and the eyes are healthy.
Setting Realistic Expectations
We tell parents this directly because it matters. Myopia management slows progression. It does not stop it completely and it does not reverse the nearsightedness your child already has. A treatment that is working well might still mean a small change in prescription some years, just a smaller one than it would have been otherwise. That is success, even though it does not look dramatic on paper.
Start of School Year, Start of a Baseline
The first weeks of school are when parents in Davie, Plantation, Sunrise, Weston, and Cooper City tend to notice these signs the most, a squint at the whiteboard, a comment from a teacher, a request to sit closer to the front. That makes now a natural time to get a baseline axial length measurement, whether or not your child has ever needed glasses before.
If your family is also dealing with dry, irritated eyes from screen time or contact lens wear, our dry eye treatment page covers how we address that alongside vision correction.
Call Family Eye Center at (954) 423-8444 or book online to get your child’s eyes measured before the school year gets going. A stronger prescription does not have to be something you just accept every year.
Ready to see whether your child's myopia is progressing?
Medically reviewed by Dr. Massimo Gramanzini, OD. Dr. Gramanzini has practised in Davie for over 25 years and is certified in the treatment and management of ocular disease. Meet Dr. Gramanzini.
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