Without surgery, take off glasses for a month to restore vision?
A survey of market chaos in children's myopia rehabilitation treatment
Editor's note
International Children's Day is coming, we say to all the children in advance: Happy Holidays.
Children are the future of the country and the hope of the family.
In today's material-rich society, children have a better life, but there are still many problems in the protection of children's rights and interests, especially with the rapid development of the Internet, some new problems are constantly emerging.
There are all kinds of chaos in the children's myopia rehabilitation treatment market; children participating in advertisements and acting as child models are alienated as a money-making tool for some parents; some minors' learning and social apps have problems such as pornography, violence, built-in games, etc. What should I do? Protecting children and keeping them away from harm is a common issue of the whole society.
In response to these issues, the "Law Jingwei" edition will launch a series of reports on "Children's Rights and Interests Protection" from today to discuss the issue of child protection in the age of network technology.
stay tuned.
□ Our reporter Zhao Li
□ Our intern Tan Lanhui
"If you don't have glasses, the world of short-sightedness is like a mosaic; if you forget to wear glasses, you may be mistaken for being cold; if you wear glasses, there will be all kinds of troubles, such as the fog on the lenses when you eat hot pot... "Beijing citizen Liu Xiaoli deeply felt the pain of myopia, and because of this, her daughter Xiaofang's vision problem was regarded as a "top priority" by her.
5 years ago, 9-year-old Xiaofang was found to have 100 degrees of myopia. Liu Xiaoli took her to try various myopia treatment methods: Chinese medicine massage, eye patch, 3D training... Now 5 years have passed, Xiaofang's degree of myopia Not only did it not come down, but it rose day by day, reaching 375 degrees.
There are not a few parents who have similar experiences and concerns with Liu Xiaoli.
According to data from the National Health Commission, in 2020, the overall myopia rate among Chinese children and adolescents will reach 52.7%, 35.6% in primary school, and 80.5% in high school.
Some businesses seized the anxiety of parents and launched a variety of myopia treatment products and therapies, while some parents who used it bluntly said that they were "pitted".
What kind of chaos exists in the children's myopia rehabilitation treatment market?
The "Rules of Law Daily" reporter recently launched an investigation.
Prevailing remedies for treating myopia
Expensive and ineffective
"Please let me go, call me!" After squeezing through the crowd, Liu Xiaoli and Xiaofang rushed into the ophthalmology department of the hospital.
It was an ordinary weekend not long ago, and Liu Xiaoli managed to grab the number ahead of time and bring her child to treat her eyesight.
The ophthalmology department was crowded with parents and children.
When Xiaofang was 9 years old, her myopia was found to be less than 100 degrees in a routine physical examination at school.
Liu Xiaoli immediately took Xiaofang to the hospital. The doctor asked to guarantee outdoor time, but Liu Xiaoli and his wife did not follow the doctor's orders due to their busy work. As a result, Xiaofang's myopia continued to rise.
When I went to the doctor again, the doctor diagnosed that Xiaofang's myopia developed rapidly, which may be due to her parents' myopia, and it was also related to the influence of electronic equipment and lack of movement. Both Liu Xiaoli and her husband had myopia of nearly 500 degrees.
In order to treat Xiaofang's myopia, Liu Xiaoli has tried many remedies in recent years: Chinese medicine massage, eye care patches, 3D training... Some package products are worth tens of thousands of yuan per course of treatment, but they have little effect after use.
A young mother from Hebei told reporters that the degree of myopia at the age of 9 reached 475 degrees.
"Usually, we neglected the visual inspection until the child couldn't see the blackboard clearly, and it was more than 200 degrees after the first inspection. Later, the frequency of using electronic products was restricted, and he also took a lot of nutritional products such as lutein, but the degree still rose. "Later, through a friend's introduction, she took her child to a rehabilitation facility that claims to be able to treat myopia.
"When I went there for the first time, the child couldn't even see the big characters on the first line of the eye chart." Hou's mother recalled that the effect was good at first, and she could see the third line of the eye chart clearly, so she bought a package and insisted on doing it. , I didn't expect that not only there was no further effect, but it also rebounded, and I still couldn't see the first line of the eye chart.
Mother Doudou from Hubei also took her child to experience so-called massage therapy.
"We also knew that it might be useless, but with the mentality that we would rather try 100 times than miss a chance, we didn't expect that after a few attempts, the child's degree would increase." Later, Doudou's mother brought I took my child to the hospital for an orthokeratology lens, but it can only serve as a temporary correction.
In recent years, the myopia rate of children has been increasing, and parents are anxious.
Some businesses took the opportunity to treat myopia and launched a variety of products and therapies, such as "the child's myopia is just a sticker", "with this myopia correction device, the child's eyesight has improved", "no surgery is needed quickly." Take off your glasses" etc.
Ma Tianying, a citizen of Beijing, took his child on the road of treating myopia because he heard the propaganda of a vision recovery center that "remove glasses for one month without surgery and restore vision 100%".
Ma Tianying told reporters that the center advertised that the treatment equipment it used was a lowering degree mirror, and there have been hundreds of successful cases.
He spent a lot of money on reducing glasses. Not only was the child ineffective, but his eyesight tended to decline. He was so scared that he quickly stopped using it.
Later, Ma Tianying asked the center whether the staff was qualified as a doctor. The other party did not reply clearly, but only replied: "Physiotherapy is used, not surgery."
"If you don't have surgery, you don't need a doctor's qualification. This kind of thinking is not uncommon in vision recovery treatment institutions. I have been to many similar treatment institutions, but I haven't gotten an answer." Ma Tianying said, "I didn't know the reason, but I consulted. Several treatment facilities are closed."
Use words to induce joining
Low cost and high profit
During the investigation, the reporter noticed that methods such as Miao medicine and acupuncture have also appeared in the children's myopia treatment market, and such institutions are recruiting franchisees nationwide.
Doudou's mother told reporters that she had done a lot of homework on the Internet to prevent the child's degree from deepening, and also added several myopia discussion groups.
After a long time, she found that these discussion groups were "not simple", "80% of the people in the group who said that their children used what products and their eyesight recovered quickly were micro-businesses."
After joining the two myopia exchange groups, the reporter found that group friends kept posting "experience in preventing and treating myopia".
In a discussion group of "Children's Myopia Prevention and Control Mutual Aid Station" with 368 members, the reporter noticed that the group prohibits others from posting advertisements, and the group owner can only send eye protection product links from time to time and share some eye protection products. article.
On May 27, in the name of the approaching International Children's Day, the group owner launched a promotion and shared the purchase link.
The reporter clicked the link to enter the store and found that there were glasses, eye patches, fish oil, lutein and some therapeutic instruments.
What the group owner recommends to everyone is the "four-piece prevention and control set", that is, Xingqu control lens + feeding light meter + telephoto lens + reverse shooting. The price of the whole set starts at 10,786 yuan.
Another discussion group called "Youth Vision Prevention and Exchange Welfare Group" has 213 group members. The group owner mainly sells an eye patch for the treatment of myopia. eye hygienist".
In the group, group members often ask questions: Myopia is irreversible, but why can I see 1 to 3 lines clearly after using the eye patch?
At this time, a franchisee will respond: "What we are adjusting is uncorrected vision, that is, vision without glasses. Irreversible myopia refers to the refraction, that is, the child's degree is irreversible. But the vision without glasses is adjustable and controllable. Correctable."
When the reporter expressed the willingness to join, a number of "health practitioners" immediately threw an "olive branch" to the reporter.
The other party said that there are two levels to join and sell this eye patch for the treatment of myopia. The highest level is the Lianchuang level. You need to pay 204,000 yuan to buy 30 boxes of eye patches. The unit price of each box is 6,800 yuan. There are 10 boxes of eye patches. The retail price of the eye patch is 3680 yuan.
The other is the partner level. It takes 15,800 yuan to buy the first box of eye stickers, 10,800 yuan for the second box, and 9,800 yuan, 8,800 yuan, and 7,800 yuan for the third to fifth boxes, respectively.
"You can buy goods from us, and then go to other franchisees, and the price difference you sell to the franchisees after you buy the goods will be yours." Give it a try, and then promote it if it works. We are experiential marketing, and those who believe in it will generate revenue, and those who don’t believe it will become more popular.”
When the reporter asked about the specific sales method, the "hygienist" said: "As long as you buy a box of 15,800 yuan eye patches, the company will immediately teach you how to start the market, how to lay the groundwork, and you will soon be able to earn 10,000 or 20,000 yuan. Yuan."
Reporters searched for "myopia eye stickers" on some social platforms, and there were thousands of related posts.
On a social platform, many netizens claimed that they had improved their eyesight through a multi-pronged approach, and then began to recommend products such as eye patches, eye drops, and eye protection tablets that they had used.
The reporter learned through private messages that many of the eye patches, eye drops and other products were purchased from micro-business or e-commerce stores.
Under these promotional posts, for the same eye patch for the treatment of myopia, some people say that the effect is very good, but some people say that after using it, the eyes feel spicy and even cry.
Some netizens said that the same eye patch purchased through the WeChat business channel has a different taste and color every time the product is obtained.
The reporter learned on the e-commerce platform that the prices of different eye patches for the treatment of myopia are quite different. The expensive ones are as high as 16 yuan/pair, and the cheap ones are as low as 2 yuan/pair. Some of them are even "three-no" products.
In the comment area, many buyers reported that they "paid the IQ tax".
In addition, the reporter saw some kind of therapeutic device that can correct myopia and improve eyesight on the Internet, and many posts reported that after using this device, the child's eyesight has improved.
However, the reporter entered the homepage of these accounts and found that the contents of these posts were all related to the promotion of instruments.
The reporter contacted "Mr. Cao", the agent of the therapeutic device. The other party claimed that his child used the company's device, combined with the massage care in the offline store, and the vision recovered from 4.7 to 5.1.
"One set is 7,888 yuan, and the child's naked eye vision has improved by 2 to 5 lines within 1 month after use." Mr. Cao then set up a group chat including reporters and the company's Xi'an headquarters staff "Mr. Cheng".
According to Mr. Cheng, this therapeutic device has obtained a national patent. The company's eye care technology uses 7 major disciplines, combined with eye massage technology, eye relaxation technology, alpha brain wave technology and eye training technology, to correct vision safely and efficiently.
Since so many technical means are used, does the operator of the therapeutic apparatus need to have relevant qualifications?
Mr. Cao explained: "The therapist does not have any requirements for education. As long as you join the team, you can conduct training. After about a week of training, you can open a store by yourself."
"Our company has an online platform, and there are often live broadcasts. Everyone places orders on the online platform and then goes to the offline store to pick up the goods." Mr. Cao introduced that there is no franchise fee for joining, but a deposit must be paid to the manufacturer. The amount of the deposit depends on the district where the store is located, 240,000 yuan in prefecture-level cities and 120,000 yuan in county-level cities. The deposit will be refunded after 5 years.
Cultivate the habit of scientific eye use
Moderate increase in outdoor activities
"Use early, you won't regret it." This slogan in many products for treating myopia or preventing and controlling myopia hit the hearts of some parents.
A parent told reporters: "Myopia is a lifetime event. If it can be cured, I am willing to try any method."
On May 26, the official website of the China Consumers Association issued a reminder to remind the majority of children, adolescents and parents not to believe in so-called advertisements for the treatment of myopia. good medicine".
The China Consumers Association reminded that there are some rehabilitation intervention products and services for children and adolescents with myopia such as traditional Chinese medicine compresses, ear beans, and massage, as well as Miao medicine, acupuncture, special glasses and other seemingly scientific methods of treating vision. After a trial or initial acceptance of the service, there may be some "effects".
But they all relieve some symptoms caused by eye fatigue by relaxing the nerves and muscles. In fact, myopia still exists.
"Myopia instruments are also useless." An ophthalmologist from a well-known eye hospital in Beijing told reporters that for young people, it is generally divided into pseudo-myopia and myopia. Less than 200 degrees, continuous development will become true myopia.
Pseudo-myopia can be recovered by resting and correcting bad eye habits. At present, various methods and instruments for the treatment of pseudo-myopia on the market have specific and exact curative effects, which need to be further verified.
In fact, in recent years, focusing on improving the visual health of children and adolescents, relevant state departments have successively issued a number of documents, including guiding students to consciously love and protect their eyes, reducing students' academic burden, strengthening outdoor activities and physical exercise, and using electronic products in a scientific and standardized manner. Wait.
The Ministry of Education recently released the "National Children and Adolescent Myopia Prevention and Control Pilot Counties (Cities, Districts) Experience and Practice Promotion List", which introduced the practices of 142 pilot counties.
For example, the Huairou District of Beijing and other places have done this: increase the time for students' outdoor activities, extracurricular activities and sports activities, and implement the requirements for physical activities such as one hour each day on-campus and off-campus, and one hour for sunshine sports.
Schools in mountainous areas carry out the "Mountain Travel" course to lead students into nature, etc.
"For parents, instead of rushing to find vision correction products, it is better to cultivate children's good habits of scientifically using their eyes and loving and protecting their eyes." Chu Zhaohui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Education Sciences, said that parents should include vision health into quality education. , really return the spare time to children, let them go into nature and stay away from electronic products.