For most people the power settles somewhere between 15 and 21, when the eye stops growing. How much is added before then depends largely on when it started and what was done about it.
Myopia usually stops progressing in the mid to late teens. In a large long-term study, half of children had stabilised by about age 15 and around 95 percent by 24. Progression is fastest between 6 and 12, slows through the teenage years, and can continue into the twenties in people who do heavy close work.
Move from birth to adulthood to see how myopia usually behaves at each stage.
Typical patterns. Individual children and adults vary.
A child who becomes short-sighted at 6 has around ten years of eye growth ahead. A child who starts at 12 has perhaps four or five, and those years are slower ones. This is why age at onset is the strongest predictor of the final number, and why treatment has the most to offer the youngest children.
Enter the age and power now to see how the slowing curve plays out.
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.
A minority continue to change in early adulthood. The usual reasons are:
Glasses power changed again this year? An assessment shows how fast it is moving and what can slow it.
Control treatment normally continues until two things are true: the child is in the mid to late teens, and the power has been stable for at least a year. Low-dose atropine is tapered rather than stopped at once. A review six months after stopping checks that the power has not started moving again.
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.
