Hanoi Feeling sorry for her 8-year-old child who is nearsighted by 7 degrees and cannot participate in extracurricular activities due to limited vision, Ms. Loan "bite the bullet" and borrowed 150 million VND to treat her child's nearsightedness.
"Despite trying to take medicine and have regular check-ups, my child's eyesight continues to increase. Treatment is not only mentally exhausting but also a financial struggle, as the debt keeps piling up," Loan said on June 15.
Ms. Loan is an accountant for a furniture company in Hoai Duc district, earning about 15 million VND per month. One day when she went to school, she accidentally saw her daughter running close to the board to copy her notes. Suspecting that her daughter was nearsighted, she took her to the doctor. The doctor diagnosed her with 4 diopters of nearsightedness and advised her to monitor her to prevent her vision from increasing too quickly.
When they got home, the couple bought eye supplements and took their child to many hospitals, "just hoping to maintain the current degree of nearsightedness", but in less than a year, the child's nearsightedness increased by three degrees. The child could not participate in sports activities due to poor eyesight, while wearing glasses was cumbersome. When it rained or was humid, the steam rose, limiting vision. In the class, there were few nearsighted children, and being teased for having "bulging eyes and squinting eyes" made the child even more self-conscious.
"Seeing my child being short, struggling to wear heavy glasses, and being at a disadvantage compared to his friends made my husband and I anxious. We went to buy good medicine whenever someone told us there was something good, but it didn't work," Loan said, adding that the monthly cost of eye exams, eye drops, and nutrition for the child was up to two million VND.
Earlier this year, seeing that her child had strabismus and one eye was getting increasingly blurry, she discussed with her husband about borrowing money from a loan shark to take her child for surgery to correct myopia. Because the child's cornea was thin and the degree of myopia was high, the doctor advised a new surgical method, costing 100 million VND, not including additional expenses. Currently, after the surgery, the child still has to go to the hospital to practice seeing to treat the strabismus, and must regularly use eye drops to keep the eyes from drying out and becoming inflamed.
"The doctor said that even if my child has eye surgery, he still has the possibility of becoming nearsighted again, so I really don't know if my decision is right or wrong," Loan said, adding that she is saving "every penny" to pay off the 150 million VND loan.
Her daughter is severely nearsighted, so Ms. Loan regularly monitors her and advises her to sit in the correct position and not to put her eyes too close to the screen to avoid increasing the degree of nearsightedness. Photo: Nguyen Huyen
Also struggling to wear glasses for nearly 15 years, Linh, from Tay Ho, said that her family had visited many reputable hospitals and taken medicine to treat her eyes, but her condition had not improved. Her most obvious symptom was her bulging eyes due to having to wear glasses for a long time, and she was teased as having "snail eyes" or "frog eyes". In addition, her high degree of nearsightedness combined with wearing glasses for a long time made her eyelids look lethargic and lifeless, making her afraid to communicate, only staying in her room after school.
Hearing many people's advice, Linh's parents took her to many hospitals for eye surgery, which cost from 90 million to 150 million VND. At a private clinic, the cost could be up to 200 million VND, including medicine and post-operative care. "It was like being lost in a maze because I didn't know which hospital to choose," Linh recounted.
However, after examination at the Central Eye Hospital, the doctor concluded that the thin cornea could not be operated on, so she should increase her nutrition, medication and regular check-ups. Up to now, Linh is 22 years old, and still cannot have surgery, "but the cost of examination and medication is up to hundreds of millions of dong".
The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that 50% of the world's population will be nearsighted by 2050. In Vietnam, the number of nearsighted cases has increased sharply in recent years, especially in urban areas. In large cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the rate of nearsightedness can reach 50-70% among students.
Doctor Nguyen Thi Xuan Loan, Deputy Head of the Examination Department in charge of the Ophthalmology Department, Thu Cuc TCI International General Hospital, said that some of the main causes of myopia are genetics, environment, lifestyle habits, and wearing pre-prescription glasses. In which, environmental factors play an important role because they directly cause myopia and increase the number of myopia.
Myopia causes difficulties and inconveniences in daily activities, reduces the quality of life, and affects children's mental health. Children with myopia are at risk of serious visual damage such as amblyopia due to not wearing glasses or wearing glasses with insufficient power. With severe myopia over 6 degrees, it can cause serious damage such as degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma, posterior vitreous detachment, retinal detachment, blindness. Uncontrolled myopia can also cause a burden on families due to high treatment costs and related diseases.
Children are susceptible to myopia. Video: Minute Earth
Currently, myopic children can wear glasses or have surgery. However, "there is no method that can completely treat it, children are still at risk of becoming nearsighted again, so the treatment journey is very difficult," said Dr. Hoang Thanh Tung, Department of Ophthalmology, Hanoi Medical University Hospital.
Myopia surgery involves affecting the surface of the eyeball (cornea) to change the refraction of the cornea and replaces the need to wear glasses. After myopia surgery, eye protection measures must still be maintained. In many cases, glasses must be worn again after surgery, indicating that myopia has progressed to a more severe stage.
In addition, many people experience complications during and after surgery. Of these, there are up to 10 types of post-operative complications, which are quite complicated to handle, and the consequences are also significant. "Myopia treatment is difficult and expensive for many families. It is best for parents to pay close attention to their children so that they do not or limit refractive errors," said Mr. Tung.
Doctors recommend that children wear glasses with the right number and control the progression of myopia. Limit close-up viewing and use of digital devices such as phones, iPads, computers, televisions, etc. Increase outdoor activities, at least two hours a day and 10 hours a week. Supplement with a full range of drugs containing carotene, zinc, xanthine, zexanythin or eat red and yellow fruits.
Apply the 20-20-20 rule to reduce eye strain. Specifically, after every 20 minutes of reading or looking at a screen, look at an object at least 6 meters away for 20 seconds.
In addition, families should go to reputable facilities for examination, do not arbitrarily use or abuse drugs, or self-treat myopia with unscientific folk methods. Children should have their eyes examined periodically every three to six months to detect and adjust glasses in time.
Signs that help detect myopia early include children having to read books or watch TV at close range, looking sideways, blinking, squinting, and older children may complain of blurred vision.
Minh An - Nguyen Huyen
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