High Myopia
Risks, Signs and Care
A strong minus power is more than thick lenses. The eye is physically longer and the retina is stretched thinner, so it needs watching for life. Knowing the warning signs is the most useful thing you can do.
What is high myopia?
High myopia is a prescription of about minus 6.00 dioptres or stronger, usually with an eye longer than 26 millimetres. It raises the lifetime risk of retinal detachment, myopic macular degeneration, glaucoma and early cataract. Pathological or degenerative myopia is the term used once these structural changes have appeared at the back of the eye.
- Definition
- Minus 6.00 or stronger
- Eye length
- Usually over 26 mm
- Check-ups
- Dilated retinal exam every year
- Emergency signs
- Flashes, new floaters, a shadow
Where Does Your Power Sit?
Drag to your prescription to see the band and how far you see clearly without glasses.
Myopia band
Clear without glasses up to about …
Move the slider to see what the number means.
- Phone 30 cm
- Book 40 cm
- Laptop 60 cm
- TV 3 m
- Class board 5 m
- Road sign 20 m
Based on simple optics: the furthest clear distance is one metre divided by the power. Astigmatism and age change the real-world result.
Why a Longer Eye Needs Watching
Each extra dioptre raises the risk a little further. The four conditions to know are:
- Retinal tears and detachment, where the thin retina pulls away from the back of the eye
- Myopic macular degeneration, which affects central reading vision
- Glaucoma, a slow loss of side vision from optic nerve damage
- Cataract appearing earlier than usual
Symptoms That Need an Eye Exam the Same Day
Retinal detachment is painless. The signs are visual: a sudden shower of new floaters, flashes of light at the edge of vision, a grey curtain or shadow moving across, or sudden distortion where straight lines look bent. Do not wait for it to pass. Early treatment protects sight.
Strong prescription in the family? A child's risk can be measured and the rise slowed.
Living Well With High Myopia
Have a dilated retinal examination every year, and tell any eye doctor that you are highly short-sighted. Glasses with high-index lenses or contact lenses give the best vision; specialty lenses help where standard ones do not.
Refractive surgery can remove the need for glasses but leaves the eye the same length, so the yearly checks continue. For a child heading towards a high power, myopia control is the best way to lower the final number.
Is a Child Heading for High Myopia?
Enter today's numbers to see the projected power at 18 with and without control.
- If it carries on
- If the rise is halved
Move the sliders to draw the chart.
A simplified illustration that assumes progression slows through the teens. It is not a prediction for any individual child.
Treatments
Questions Families Ask
Is high myopia a disability?
Can high myopia lead to blindness?
Can high myopia be cured by surgery?
Should people with high myopia avoid sport?
Find Out Where the Power Is Heading
A myopia assessment measures the current power, checks how the eyes focus and work together, and sets out the options that fit. In clinic in Chennai and Hyderabad, with online consultations across India.