Patients need to be at least 18 years of age or older for the treatment of mild nearsightedness. Patients under 18 may not have finished developing and may need to wait until they are at least 18 years old. If you have a higher degree of nearsightedness or astigmatism you should probably wait until you are 21. This is something you will need to discuss with your opthmalogist. As a person with myopia you have several options available to you to enhance your current vision.
Some evidence supports the theory that nearsightedness is hereditary.
There is also growing evidence that nearsightedness may be caused by the stress of too much close vision work. It normally first occurs in school age children. Since the eye continues to grow during childhood, nearsightedness generally develops before age 20. An individual that has myopia has trouble seeing clearly at a distance, while close objects are seen clearly. With myopia the center of the cornea is thinned, like cutting the hole in a donut.