Short-sightedness

Eye drops that "cure" short-sightedness (ubat titis mata rabun jauh): what is in them, why steroid drops are dangerous, and how low-dose atropine differs

Drops sold to cure rabun jauh are a myth with a real cost. Here is what they can contain, how to check a product in Malaysia, and what low-dose atropine does and does not do.

by Dr Chan Li Yen · MBBS, MOphth (UM), Fellowship in Paediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus

Dr Chan Li Yen, consultant paediatric ophthalmologist, MMC 43128, NSR 132980 · Eagle Eye Centre Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya

10 min read · 1,839 words

Key takeaways

No eye drop sold over the counter or online can cure short-sightedness. The eyeball has grown too long, and a drop cannot shorten it.
Drops marketed to cure rabun jauh have been reported in Malaysia to be steroid liquids. Steroid eye drops can raise eye pressure and cause glaucoma and cataract, often with no symptoms.
Check any eye drop by its MAL registration number on the NPRA Product Search. No number, or a number that does not match, is a reason to stop.
Low-dose atropine is different: a named medicine at a stated strength, prescribed by an eye doctor, and tested against placebo. It slows short-sightedness and does not cure it.
If your child has been using drops from a seller, stop them, bring the bottle to an eye doctor and have the eye pressure measured.

No eye drop sold over the counter, online or at a talk can cure short-sightedness. Some of the drops marketed that way have been reported to contain steroids, which can raise the pressure inside the eye and cause glaucoma and cataract. The only drop shown in trials to slow a child's short-sightedness is low-dose atropine, prescribed and followed by an eye doctor, and even that slows the climb. It does not remove the short-sightedness.

Can any eye drop cure my child's short-sightedness (ubat titis mata rabun jauh)?

No. Short-sightedness (rabun jauh, or myopia) happens because the eyeball has grown a little too long, so light focuses in front of the retina and distant things blur. A drop sits on the front of the eye for a few minutes. It cannot shorten an eyeball that has already lengthened, and no medicine has been shown to do that. The NHS describes short-sightedness as something that is usually treated with glasses or contact lenses, which correct the blur but do not cure the condition.

One source of confusion is the drops your child may have had at an eye check. Those are given to relax the focusing muscle so the true prescription can be measured, and they are part of the examination, not a treatment for short-sightedness. About those eye drops at the clinic explains what they do and how long the blur lasts.

So the claims on these products are the first thing to look at. "Cures rabun jauh", "throw away your glasses" and "restores 6/6 vision" describe something nobody can deliver. What eye doctors can honestly offer is a way to slow the yearly increase in a growing child, which I cover in the guide to myopia control in Malaysia.

What is actually in the drops sold as a cure for rabun jauh?

Often nobody outside the seller knows, and that is the problem. A product that is not registered has not been checked for what is in the bottle, how much, or whether it is sterile. I cannot tell you the contents of any particular bottle, and I will not guess at brands.

What is on record in Malaysia is a warning. In 2019 the news site Siakap Keli relayed a post from Public Health Malaysia about a woman in her twenties whose vision had grown dim over several months. She had been putting in drops bought from a seller at a demonstration, twice a day, as a cure for short-sightedness. Her eye pressure was found to be high, and the post said the drops were a steroid liquid. That is a single reported case passed on through a news site, not a laboratory analysis of a product, so I treat it as a warning about what can be in such bottles and not as proof of what is in every one. The same post added that non-sterile drops risk eye infection, which is plain common sense for anything put into an eye.

Why are steroid eye drops dangerous without an eye doctor watching?

Because steroid drops can quietly raise eye pressure, and high pressure damages the optic nerve. That is steroid-induced glaucoma. The StatPearls medical reference says steroid-induced glaucoma and cataract are the most important eye effects of steroid use, that any route of steroid use can cause glaucoma, and that with eye drops the pressure typically rises within 3 to 6 weeks, sooner in children or very susceptible people. It also notes the condition is often symptom-free and found by chance.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology's EyeNet makes the same point in other words: pressure can rise within weeks with a potent steroid, or after several months with a weaker one, and adults and older children usually feel nothing. Steroid drops can also cloud the lens, which is cataract. Damage to the optic nerve from glaucoma is permanent, which is why "my child sees fine on them" is not reassurance.

Steroid eye drops are real medicines with a proper place. Eye doctors use them for inflammation, and measure the pressure while they do. My objection is to steroid drops used with no diagnosis and no pressure checks. Dr Catherine Chow, an oculoplastic surgeon, explains the adult side of the same problem in eye drops from the pharmacy, and why whitening and steroid drops are a problem. For children in the house, keeping eye drops safe around children covers storage and mix-ups.

How do I check whether an eye drop is registered in Malaysia?

Look for a registration number and search it. Medicines, natural products and cosmetics sold legally in Malaysia are registered with the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA), and the registration number begins with "MAL". The NPRA runs a public Product Search on its QUEST3+ system, described on the NPRA website as a way to check the status of pharmaceutical, natural and cosmetic products.

Three practical points. A bottle with no number, a number you cannot find, or a name that does not match the one on the search result is a reason to stop. A seller who says the product is "too new" or "from a traditional recipe" to be registered is not answering the question. And a registered number only tells you the product exists in the system. It does not mean the claim on the label is true, so a registered drop with a "cures myopia" label is still wrong.

How is low-dose atropine different from these drops?

Four differences: it is a named medicine at a stated strength, an eye doctor prescribes it after examining the child, the child is followed with repeat checks, and it has been tested against a dummy drop in controlled trials.

In the Hong Kong LAMP trial, 438 children aged 4 to 12 used 0.05%, 0.025% or 0.01% atropine, or a placebo, nightly for a year. Short-sightedness progressed by 0.81 dioptres on placebo and by 0.59, 0.46 and 0.27 dioptres on 0.01%, 0.025% and 0.05%. Over two years, 0.05% was still the strength that slowed it most. A 2025 Cochrane review pooling many trials put low-dose atropine at about 0.25 dioptres less change after a year, and rated its certainty as very low, because trials differ so much. In CHAMP, a large North American and European trial, the 0.02% strength missed its main target, so the evidence is not unanimous. I go through those disagreements in atropine drops for myopia, and what the numbers say.

The key wording is "slows". Even the strongest arm in these trials still showed short-sightedness getting worse, only more slowly. In the follow-up of the ATOM2 trial, short-sightedness sped up again in the year after the drops stopped. Atropine does not cure, it does not replace glasses, and it needs an eye doctor choosing the strength and watching for side effects such as light sensitivity and blurred near vision. The comparison with lenses and outdoor time is in slowing myopia down: drops, lenses and the honest numbers.

My child has already been using drops from a seller. What should I do?

Book an eye examination soon and bring the bottle, the box and anything the seller wrote down. In my view the sensible step is to stop using a drop whose contents are unknown, and to have the pressure inside both eyes measured, because high pressure gives no early warning. The doctor can also check the lens and the optic nerves and work out your child's real prescription. If the glasses are not the right strength, that is something that can be fixed. If short-sightedness is rising quickly, a proper plan exists, and the ten questions to ask before paying for myopia control helps you judge any offer, including a legitimate one.

A child who has a painful or very red eye, or whose sight suddenly gets worse, while using any drop should be seen the same day.

See an eye doctor the same day if…

Your child's eye is painful or very red while using any drop.
Sight suddenly gets worse, in one eye or both.
Your child has been using steroid drops of unknown source and has never had the eye pressure checked.
Your child has used a drop from a seller for weeks and now complains of blur or headaches.

Common questions

Is there an eye drop that cures rabun jauh?

No. Short-sightedness happens because the eyeball has grown too long, and no drop has been shown to shorten it. The NHS describes short-sightedness as usually treated with glasses or contact lenses, which correct the blur. Low-dose atropine, prescribed by an eye doctor, can slow the yearly climb in a child, but it does not remove the short-sightedness.

Why are steroid eye drops dangerous?

They can raise the pressure inside the eye, which damages the optic nerve (steroid-induced glaucoma), and they can cloud the lens (cataract). StatPearls says pressure typically rises within 3 to 6 weeks of steroid drops, sooner in children, and that the condition is often symptom-free. Damage to the optic nerve is permanent, so the pressure needs to be measured by a doctor.

How do I know if an eye drop is registered in Malaysia?

Find the registration number on the box, which starts with MAL, and search it on the Product Search of the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA). If there is no number, or it does not match the product name, do not use it. Registration only shows the product is in the system. It does not make a claim to cure short-sightedness true.

Is low-dose atropine the same as the drops sold online?

No. Low-dose atropine in the trials is a named medicine at a stated strength (0.01%, 0.025% or 0.05%), prescribed after an eye examination and followed with repeat checks. In the LAMP trial it slowed short-sightedness compared with placebo. It still does not cure it, and short-sightedness can speed up again after stopping.

Can I buy atropine drops for my child without a prescription?

I would not. Atropine is a prescription medicine, and the strength, the safe use and the follow-up all depend on an eye doctor examining the child. A seller who offers it without an examination, or who promises a cure, is not following what the trials did.

My child has been using drops from a seller for months. What now?

Stop using the drop, keep the bottle and box, and book an eye examination soon. The doctor will measure the pressure in both eyes and look at the lens and optic nerves, because high pressure can give no warning. They will also check your child's real prescription and talk through options that do have evidence.

References

Siakap Keli · Ubat titis mata bukan penawar rabun jauh, boleh jadi punca mata buta (11 June 2019, relaying Public Health Malaysia) · skreact.siakapkeli.my
NHS · Short-sightedness · www.nhs.uk
StatPearls · Steroid-induced glaucoma (NCBI Bookshelf) · www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
American Academy of Ophthalmology · EyeNet, Management of steroid-induced glaucoma · www.aao.org
National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA), Malaysia · Home page and Product Search · www.npra.gov.my
AAPOS · Dilating eye drops · aapos.org
Ophthalmology 2019 · Low-Concentration Atropine for Myopia Progression (LAMP) Study, phase 1 · pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Ophthalmology 2020 · LAMP Study, phase 2 report (two years) · pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
JAMA Ophthalmology 2023 · Efficacy and Safety of 0.01% and 0.02% Atropine for Pediatric Myopia Progression Over 3 Years (CHAMP) · pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Ophthalmology 2016 · Five-Year Clinical Trial on Atropine for the Treatment of Myopia 2 (ATOM2), including the washout year · pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2025 · Interventions for myopia control in children: a living systematic review and network meta-analysis · pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

By Dr Chan Li Yen. General information only. It does not replace a consultation. If you are worried about your child's eyes or vision, please see an eye doctor.