{"id":14086,"date":"2021-06-16T13:56:26","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T13:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/?page_id=14086"},"modified":"2021-07-18T20:34:54","modified_gmt":"2021-07-18T20:34:54","slug":"myopia-management-does-atropine-work","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-myopia-management\/myopia-management\/myopia-management-does-atropine-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Myopia Management: Does Atropine Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Atropine eye drops may slow down the progression of myopia in children.<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/guide-to-pediatric-eye-conditions\/what-is-myopia\/top-5-myopia-myths\/\">Myopia<\/a>, also known as nearsightedness, is the inability to see things clearly unless they&#8217;re situated close to your eyes.<\/p>\n<h2><b>Is myopia serious?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Yes,<\/strong> myopia is more than an inconvenience; it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/guide-to-pediatric-eye-conditions\/what-is-myopia\/top-5-myopia-myths\/\">can pose a serious risk to a child\u2019s long-term eye health<\/a> and vision.<\/p>\n<p>Myopia can rapidly progress, leaving a child at a higher risk of developing dangerous eye diseases, such as glaucoma, retinal detachment, pathological myopia or cataracts, later in life.<\/p>\n<p>Luckily, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-myopia-management\/\">myopia management,<\/a> which can include atropine eye drops, can help slow down the rapid visual deterioration that occurs with myopia.<\/p>\n<p>Atropine sulfate is an antimuscarinic agent used as a mydriatic and cycloplegic. Atropine eye drops are also used in the treatment of uveitis and iritis to immobilize the ciliary muscle and iris to prevent or break down adhesions inside the eye.<\/p>\n<h2><b>What is atropine?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Atropine eye drops cause the muscles in your eye to become relaxed, aloso causing dilation of the pupil so that it will not respond to light, allowing the eye doctor a better internal view of the eye<\/p>\n<p>Atropine eye drops are most commonly used by eye doctors during a comprehensive eye exam and are primarily used to dilate the pupils. However, they are also used for other purposes, including treating certain eye conditions, such as myopia.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/\"><b>Schedule an appointment<\/b><\/a> with an eye doctor near you who can diagnose and manage your child\u2019s myopia.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SEE RELATED: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-myopia-management\/myopia-management\/myopia-management-the-optical-strategy\/\">Myopia Management: The Optical Strategy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t<div class=\"practice-search-widget\">\n\t\t<h3>Find an eye doctor near you<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t<form class=\"practice-search-form practice-search-form-widget\" action=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/results\/\" method=\"get\">\n\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"distance\" value=\"100\" class=\"practice-search-distance\">\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"page\" class=\"practice-search-page\">\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"address_latitude\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"address_longitude\">\n\n\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"address\" class=\"practice-search-address\" placeholder=\"City, Surburb or Address\" value=\"\">\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"distance\" value=\"100\" class=\"practice-search-distance\">\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t<button type=\"submit\" class=\"practice-search-button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M10.6796 0.130005C9.15708 0.130059 7.66615 0.5646 6.38198 1.38258C5.09781 2.20057 4.07373 3.36803 3.43004 4.74783C2.78634 6.12763 2.54976 7.66246 2.74808 9.17205C2.9464 10.6816 3.57139 12.1033 4.54964 13.27L0.729639 17.08C0.6364 17.1732 0.562439 17.2839 0.511979 17.4058C0.461519 17.5276 0.435547 17.6581 0.435547 17.79C0.435547 17.9219 0.461519 18.0524 0.511979 18.1743C0.562439 18.2961 0.6364 18.4068 0.729639 18.5C0.917942 18.6883 1.17334 18.7941 1.43964 18.7941C1.5715 18.7941 1.70207 18.7681 1.82389 18.7177C1.94571 18.6672 2.0564 18.5932 2.14964 18.5L5.99964 14.62C7.35406 15.6038 8.98566 16.1324 10.6596 16.13C12.7814 16.13 14.8162 15.2871 16.3165 13.7869C17.8168 12.2866 18.6596 10.2517 18.6596 8.13C18.6596 6.00827 17.8168 3.97344 16.3165 2.47315C14.8162 0.97286 12.7814 0.130005 10.6596 0.130005H10.6796ZM10.6796 14.13C9.49295 14.13 8.33291 13.7781 7.34622 13.1188C6.35952 12.4595 5.59049 11.5225 5.13636 10.4261C4.68224 9.32975 4.56342 8.12335 4.79493 6.95946C5.02644 5.79558 5.59788 4.72648 6.437 3.88736C7.27611 3.04825 8.34521 2.4768 9.5091 2.24529C10.673 2.01378 11.8794 2.1326 12.9757 2.58673C14.0721 3.04085 15.0092 3.80989 15.6685 4.79658C16.3277 5.78328 16.6796 6.94332 16.6796 8.13C16.6796 9.7213 16.0475 11.2474 14.9223 12.3726C13.7971 13.4979 12.2709 14.13 10.6796 14.13Z\" fill=\"#fff\"\/><\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"practice-search-use-my-location\">\n\t\t\tSearch near me\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\n\t<\/form>\n\n\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<h2><b>How is atropine used for myopia management?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Atropine is a non-selective blocker of muscarinic receptors, present in the retina and sclera. Although the specific mechanism of atropine in myopia management is unknown, it is thought that atropine inhibits sclera thinning or stretching, and hence eye growth, by acting directly or indirectly on the retina or sclera.<\/p>\n<p><b>Low-doses of atropine drops in 0.01%, 0.02%, and 0.05% concentrations have been found to be effective in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-myopia-management\/\">slowing down the progression of myopia<\/a><\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>A clinical trial published in <i>Ophthalmology (2015)<\/i> by the Atropine for the Treatment of Myopia (ATOM2) study, compared the safety and efficacy of different concentrations of atropine eye drops to control myopia progression over 5 years.<\/p>\n<p>In the double-masked study, children were randomized 2:2:1 to receive 0.5%, 0.1% or 0.01% of atropine drops respectively, once daily in both eyes for 2 years.<\/p>\n<p>Results showed that children who received higher concentrations of atropine demonstrated a greater effect in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-myopia-management\/\">slowing myopia progression.<\/a> However, there was no significant difference in myopia between these dosage groups at 2 years.<\/p>\n<p><b>The study suggests that the 0.01% concentration has minimal side effects while still reducing the rate of myopia progression by 50% to 60%<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>However, it is believed that more studies are needed to make management options more customizable as one size doesn\u2019t fit all.<\/p>\n<p>The study also recommended that using atropine drops in conjunction with other treatments, such as ortho-k, multifocal contact lenses and optical lenses, as well as environmental and behavioral modifications, such as spending time outdoors, can help determine the optimum level of atropine to be prescribed.<\/p>\n<p>Early diagnosis of myopia can improve your child\u2019s performance in school and can help prevent serious sight-robbing eye diseases later in life.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LEARN MORE:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-myopia-management\/\">Guide to Myopia Management<\/a><\/p>\n<p>If your child shows signs or symptoms of myopia, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/\"><b>schedule an eye exam<\/b><\/a> with an eye doctor near you to discuss a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-myopia-management\/\">myopia management plan.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Atropine eye drops may slow down the progression of myopia in children. Myopia, also known as nearsightedness, is the inability to see things clearly unless<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":14087,"parent":5609,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-article.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14086","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Myopia Management: Does Atropine Work? - Optometrists.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-myopia-management\/myopia-management\/myopia-management-does-atropine-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Myopia Management: Does Atropine Work? - Optometrists.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Atropine eye drops may slow down the progression of myopia in children. 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