The Eye Drops That Instantly Correct Myopia With Just One Drop

These days, there are increasingly many ways to give our eyes medical attention. Laser surgery opened a lot of doors (not to mention cutting into the window to your soul and all that), and even that may be becoming obsolete as science marches on. That said, some methods still seem a little too exciting for complete comfort, such as: Laser Eye Surgery Without The Laser Or The Surgery! ← uses electrochemical corneal refraction to reshape it!

But what about eye drops? Taking them is not most people’s favorite hobby, but they can help with minor conditions; dry eyes being the most obvious. Yet even these being gradually sidelined as other technologies step forwards, for example: A New Free App Offers Relief For Dry Eyes (Yes, Really)

But they can do more complex things too, as we’ve written about before, such as: New Eye Drops vs Age-Related Macular Degeneration

So, what’s this about treating myopia with eye drops?

Let’s take a close-up look at the evidence

Researchers (Dr. Lisa Ostrin & Dr. Barsha Lal) investigated this, and found that a single low-dose atropine eye drop (0.01%–0.1%) caused significant improvements to pupil size and focusing ability that lasted at least 24 hours, while not changing eye length, retinal thickness, or choroidal thickness over that period (that’s good).

How they tested it: it was a small (n=20) randomized controlled trial (RCT), in which healthy adults (average age 25.5) received placebo or one of four atropine concentrations in one eye across five randomized, double-masked sessions, with measurements taken at baseline, 1 hour, and 24 hours.

The results, in numbers:

❝The superficial vascular plexus perfusion density in the 1.0–2.5 mm annulus showed significant decrease (P = 0.02) with time after atropine instillation, but not with concentration (P > 0.05); post hoc analysis showed significant decrease from baseline at 1 h (P = 0.03) compared to 24 h (P = 0.28)❞

In other words: it helps significantly, and quickly. However, the results are temporary, and meaning that while one drop per eye is sufficient to gain these changes for a day, it’d be necessary to take it again later to get the same effect again. On the other hand, the temporary nature of the effects does suggest a good safety profile.

Or as Dr. Ostrin herself put it:

❝Characterizing these short-term effects is important for a better understanding of the physiological responses to atropine in clinical and research settings.

By linking objective ocular responses with subjective visual experience, this work advances our understanding of how atropine works and supports more precise, evidence-based, and individualized approaches to myopia management❞

~ Dr. Lisa Ostrin, Professor of Optometry

You can read the paper in full, here: Short-term effects of atropine on the retina and choroid in young adults

Note: yes, “young adults” per the average age of 25.5 that we mentioned above, though there’s no reason to assume this won’t work similarly for older adults; that’s just the science that’s been done so far, and scientists like to claim only what they can be confident their study actually shows.

Not a fan of eye drops?

Well, first you might want to check out: Tips For Putting In Eye Drops (3 Techniques That Work!) ← this writer uses technique #3; how about you?

But if you want a no-med, entirely DIY approach to better eyesight, then do consider this highly recommendable book we reviewed a while back:

Vision for Life, Revised Edition: Ten Steps to Natural Eyesight Improvement – by Dr. Meir Schneider

Take care!