We’ll show who treats it and what it costs.
12 Orynbor St. Look for the blue façade with the eye sign.
Is the minus growing every year?
Glasses don’t damage the eyes, and laser treatment is only done from 18. Until 18 there’s one goal: to make the minus grow more slowly. Set your child’s age and minus — we’ll show where it’s heading.
Where the minus is heading
This is an estimate based on average figures, not a forecast for your child. The real rate will show in two measurements taken some time apart. The doctor decides.
By 18: without control ≈ −5.25, with control ≈ −4
The difference is ≈ 1.25: that’s how much weaker the glasses could be by 18.
After 18, once the minus stops growing, all three laser correction methods can treat this minus: PRK up to −6, ReLEx SMILE up to −10, Femto-LASIK up to −12. The surgeon decides.
An honest look at what parents fear
Short-sightedness, or myopia, grows along with a child’s eye, and it isn’t your fault. As a child grows, the eyeball lengthens and the minus increases. The eye’s growth can’t be stopped, but the progression of myopia can be slowed — much like a child’s height: you can’t stop them growing, but you can correct their posture.
In children the minus usually grows fastest in the early school years and slows down towards 18. The number at 18 isn’t set in stone: it depends on the rate of progression and on when monitoring started. That’s why the doctor compares measurements rather than looking at a single number.
The minus grows because the eye grows, not because of glasses. Glasses made to an exact prescription give the eye a sharp picture, and your child stops squinting at the board. Wearing weaker glasses “so the eye can train” doesn’t help: the eye doesn’t get shorter because of it.
Laser vision correction removes the minus on the cornea but doesn’t stop the eye from growing. While myopia is progressing, laser isn’t done even for adults. For children it’s glasses, monitoring and patience — and your child will make the laser decision themselves when they grow up.
Myopia progression control
Treating myopia in children isn’t a single procedure but monitoring with numbers. The doctor records the exact minus, gives the eye the right glasses and compares after a while. Like the height marks on a door frame: one mark tells you nothing, two show how fast they’re growing.
A child’s eye can “hide” a minus or, on the contrary, show too much: the focusing muscle is tense. Drops relax it, and the prescription number becomes the real one. This is the mark used to tell whether the myopia is growing.
While the pupil is dilated after the drops, the doctor looks at the retina. With high myopia the eye is more elongated, so the back of the eye is checked more carefully. It doesn’t hurt your child: the device doesn’t touch the eye.
The BABY EYE doctor writes the prescription, and the glasses are made to it at the RB OPTICS store, 12 Orynbor St. Your child picks the frame, and glasses they like don’t get “forgotten” at home.
After a while the doctor measures the minus again and compares. If it’s stable — good. If it’s growing fast — discuss how to slow it down. The doctor will set the date of the next check: more often than once a year while the minus is growing.
Ophthalmology has ways to control myopia in children that are stronger than ordinary glasses. They don’t suit everyone or every age: the choice depends on the minus, how fast it’s growing and how your child wears glasses or lenses.
False or true
Sometimes yes — if the myopia is false. That’s why the doctor’s first question isn’t “which glasses” but “what kind of myopia is this”. The drops give the answer: they show what is muscle strain and what is a true minus.
False myopia
The focusing muscle has been overworked by books, lessons and the phone and has “got stuck” on near vision. The eye hasn’t changed, but distance vision is worse. After the drops the minus decreases or disappears. This kind of false myopia can be cleared if the eyes get a break in time.
True myopia
The eyeball has become longer, and the image falls in front of the retina. After the drops the minus remains. No treatment can return the eye to its former length — neither drops nor exercises. What can be done is to slow the progression of myopia and give clear vision with glasses.
It can be a mix too: a true minus with a spasm on top. Then the prescription after drops comes out weaker than without them — one more reason to measure a child’s minus only this way.
Not instead of the doctor, but together
You can’t change heredity, but you can change your child’s day. If both parents are short-sighted, the child’s risk is higher. But it isn’t only genetics: long hours of close work and too little daylight also speed up the progression of myopia.
Children who spend more time outdoors become short-sighted less often. Daylight and looking into the distance are needed by a growing eye every day. A walk after school does more good than one more cartoon.
Homework, phone, tablet: the focusing muscle holds near vision for hours. Every half hour, have your child look up and out of the window. Books and screens — no closer than the distance from elbow to fist.
Reading in poor light puts extra strain on the eyes. Set up the desk by a window or with a desk lamp, with no shadow from the hand on the notebook.
If the doctor said to wear them all the time — then all the time. If only for the board and screens — wear them that way. Home-made rules like “let the eye train” don’t slow the minus down.
A good routine on its own doesn’t replace myopia control with an ophthalmologist. It helps make each next measurement calmer than the last.
Mild, moderate, high
The degree of myopia isn’t a verdict but a sign of how closely to watch. The higher the minus, the more elongated the eye and the more important it is that it doesn’t grow further.
Glasses are mostly needed for distance. The best time to start monitoring: the minus is still small.
Glasses are needed more often, monitoring is regular. The doctor tracks progression and decides whether ordinary glasses are enough.
The eye is more elongated, so the back of the eye is checked especially carefully.
The example on the chart shows mild myopia (−2.5). Without control, the estimate by 18 is moderate (≈ −5.25); with control, moderate (≈ −4). This is an estimate; the doctor decides.
What your child will see
Show your child these photos at home — the unfamiliar is less scary once you’ve seen it. The photos with children were taken at BABY EYE CLINIC, 2A Syganak St: this is where your child will be seen. The rooms, the RB OPTICS store and reception are at RB CLINIC, 12 Orynbor St: this is where you come for prescription glasses. Drag the strip or tap a photo.
A doctor explains
Begaidarova Aliya Kairgeldinovna · paediatric ophthalmologist, BABY EYE CLINIC
“Vision used to worsen at 13–14, in adolescence. Now, unfortunately, myopia progresses even before school age.”
“Here the child will definitely need to be monitored twice a year.”
The doctor’s words from the video — verbatim. Tap the video to listen with sound.
BABY EYE CLINIC paediatric doctor
Your child is seen by a paediatric ophthalmologist, not a nurse with an eye chart. At BABY EYE CLINIC that’s Dr. Begaidarova: parents mention her by name in 55 of 117 reviews.
Paediatric ophthalmologist, BABY EYE CLINIC
Parents mention her by name in 55 of 117 reviews. She sees children at 2A Syganak St and compares measurements: is the minus growing, and how fast.
Appointments at BABY EYE CLINIC, 2A Syganak St — Mon–Sat 11:00–18:00, by appointment. We’ll find a time on WhatsApp.
Prescription at BABY EYE, glasses at RB OPTICS
With a prescription you don’t have to wonder whether a random optician read the numbers right. The BABY EYE CLINIC doctor writes the prescription, and the glasses are made to it at RB OPTICS: the store is inside RB CLINIC, 12 Orynbor St. If the minus changes at a repeat measurement — new lenses are ordered right there.
Backed by RB CLINIC
Most children do fine with glasses, contact lenses, training on eye devices or simply monitoring. The doctor will only suggest surgery when there’s a medical need — for a squint, ptosis or blocked tear ducts. Then it’s done by RB CLINIC surgeons: BABY EYE CLINIC is the children’s branch of RB CLINIC, a leading eye microsurgery centre in Astana.
When medically needed:
Bigeldiyev Rishat Kalilullaevich
Founder of RB CLINIC, academician. If a child needs strabismus surgery, he performs it
About Dr. Bigeldiyev
One visit — the first mark
Children are seen at BABY EYE CLINIC, 2A Syganak St. Write your child’s age and the minus on the latest prescription — the administrator will find a time. If you set the dot on the chart, the age and minus will already be in the message.
Bring past prescriptions: they show how the minus has grown.
Call BABY EYE: +7 771 833 00 03 · Mon–Sat 11:00–18:00
Surgery questions — RB CLINIC: +7 771 848 00 00
Questions
The eye’s growth can’t be stopped, but it can be slowed. It starts with an exact number measured with drops and glasses to prescription, then the doctor compares measurements. If the minus is growing fast, myopia control options are discussed: night lenses, special spectacle lenses or drops. At home, walks in daylight and breaks from screens and books help.
False myopia, a spasm of the focusing muscle, can be cleared if the eyes get a break in time. True myopia — no: the eye has already lengthened, and neither drops nor exercises can shorten it. Treating it in children means clear vision with glasses and slowing the progression. A check with drops will show which kind your child has.
No. The minus grows because the eye grows, not because of glasses. Glasses made to an exact prescription give the eye a sharp picture. Wearing weaker glasses than needed “so the eye can train” doesn’t help.
Progression is usually fastest in the early school years, and by 18–20 growth slows and stops. Every child’s rate is different. It can only be found from two measurements taken some time apart, so bring past prescriptions to the appointment.
The doctor will set the schedule: it depends on age, the minus and how fast it has grown. While the minus is growing, checks are more often than once a year; when it’s stable — less often.
No, at RB CLINIC laser correction is done from 18. Progressive myopia is a contraindication to laser even in adults: the minus has to stop first. Until then — glasses or lenses and monitoring.
Long hours of close work — books, homework, the phone — strain the focusing muscle and can push the minus up, especially if a child spends little time outdoors. There’s no need to ban the phone: breaks, screen distance and walks in daylight matter more.
We’ll confirm the price of a BABY EYE CLINIC appointment on WhatsApp. Write your child’s age and the minus on the prescription — and we’ll find a time straight away.
Children’s appointments: BABY EYE CLINIC, Astana, 2A Syganak St · Prescription glasses: RB OPTICS at RB CLINIC, 12 Orynbor St · BABY EYE: +7 771 833 00 03 · RB CLINIC: +7 771 848 00 00 · All reviews
