Can contact lenses control the progression of myopia?

Myopia is a potentially blinding condition with serious socio-economic ramifications. Many causes have been alluded to and one of the strongest associations is that of formal education and nearwork. Studies done both locally and abroad illustrate this. In addition, Singaporeans were found to have one of the highest incidences of myopia in the world. Many methods, including the use of contact lenses, have been advocated in the control of myopia. Hard contact lenses and more recently, rigid gas permeable lenses, have been studied both to arrest the progression of myopia in the young and reduce existing myopia (by orthokeratology) in the Caucasian population. However, the Asian eye differs from the Caucasian eye. This is evidenced by the increased frequency and severity of myopia, and the difference in the pattern of corneal diseases in our population. As such, there is a need for local studies to be conducted to assess the effectiveness of this method in our population.