How Growth Spurts Can Speed Up Myopia Progression in Kids

Have you ever noticed your child needing new glasses right after a big growth spurt? It’s not just coincidence! There’s real science behind how our eyes change during periods of rapid growth.

The Body’s Growth Phase

During childhood and early teen years, the body goes through incredible changes. Bones lengthen, muscles stretch, and tissues remodel to keep up with overall growth. This happens because the extracellular matrix, the “scaffolding” that supports our tissues, naturally loosens and softens during growth spurts. It’s what allows kids to get taller so quickly.

How the Eye Changes Too

The same process happens inside the eye. As the extracellular matrix becomes more flexible, the eye’s outer wall (called the sclera) can also expand. This allows the axial length, or the front to back length of the eye, to increase more rapidly.
In kids without myopia, the eye’s natural growth is balanced. As the eye becomes longer front to back, it also becomes wider. The internal lens gently flattens through tension on the lens fibers (called zonules), which slightly reduces the eye’s focusing power to stay in sync with overall growth.

But in kids with myopia (nearsightedness), that same loosening can lead to excessive elongation. Instead of coordinated, balanced growth, the eye continues to stretch more than it should, leading to higher degrees of myopia.

Why This Matters

This connection explains why we often see faster myopia progression during growth spurts, especially around ages 8 to 13. The body is changing rapidly, and the eye’s support structures become more pliable, creating an ideal window for elongation.

How We Can Slow It Down

The good news is that we now have several effective ways to slow myopia progression and support healthier eye growth.

Orthokeratology (ortho-k) and soft myopia control lenses such as MiSight 1 day gently reshape how light focuses on the retina, helping to slow axial elongation while keeping daytime vision clear. Stellest lenses use a unique optical design to create a controlled “signal” on the retina that tells the eye to slow down its growth. T

Changing the retinal signaling helps counteract the natural tendency for the eye to elongate during growth spurts.

Together, these treatments help guide the eye toward more stable, coordinated growth and protect your child’s vision as their body continues to develop.