Does my change in prescription mean I have pathological myopia?
APR 07, 2018
Question:
I'm worried I might have pathological myopia and I’m trying to educate myself on it. I'm 28 and my myopia has got quite a bit worse in the last year. It is still defined as mild myopia but in one eye the change has been -1.50 D which seems quite large. I didn’t think myopia would get worse at my age. From your experience, is it possible that mild myopia can become pathological at my age?
Answer:
In pathological myopia, the eye progressively elongates (slowly gets longer over time), causing weakening and bulging of the sclera (white wall of the eye). The eye’s changing shape makes it difficult to prescribe corrective lenses (lens power can range from -6 diopters to more than -30) and can cause other eye problems like glaucoma, retinal detachment, and staphyloma. You do not indicate what your baseline myopia is, so the -1.50 you describe as the newer power might or might not reflect pathological myopia. However, you indicate that your myopia is defined as "mild" and I would assume that means that you have a basic power well below the threshold for "pathologic." You probably have nothing to worry about if your eyes correct to 20/20 and no other problem has been identified to date, but please express your concerns with your ophthalmologist.