Short-sightedness is an eye condition characterized by the inability to see distant objects because they appear blurred. A person suffering from the illness can see objects that are near clearly. The illness is brought about by long eyeballs or excessive curvature of the cornea. This interferes with focus of the light into the eye.
Growth of the eyes usually depends on hereditary factors. Nevertheless, research proves that this illness is also caused by frequent close vision of light sources like TVs for instance.
Diagnosis & Treatment of Myopia
In children, the ailment is identified easily owing to the fact that those affected tend to squint when looking at the chalkboard in the classroom or when watching TV at home. Comprehensive tests are normally performed by opticians to establish the extent of the damage.
When it comes to the treatment of short-sightedness, several options are available. They include:
- Contact lenses
- Glasses
- Refractive surgery
For contact lenses and glasses, the number for the lens is usually negative, like -4.00 for instance. When worn, the lens focuses light thus making the vision much clearer.
On the other hand, refractive surgery provides a more permanent solution. The medical procedure helps the patient to see clearly without using contact lenses or glasses. The most common surgical procedures are:
- Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK) – In this procedure, a special laser machine is used to rectify the cornea’s curvature which consequently restores normal vision.
- Radial Keratotomy (RK) – This procedure is effective and quite popular in treating short-sightedness. Laser machines are used to remove some tissue from the cornea.
Myopia and Lifestyle
Those affected by this illness are concerned more about their lifestyle than their health status. The good news is that there is no need to worry at all. It takes very little time to adapt to contact lenses or glasses. In case you feel that wearing the contact lenses or glasses will affect your lifestyle, you can opt for surgery, which is costlier.
Myopia Myths
- A person can control his/her eyes and see clearly even when suffering from short-sightedness. This is a misguided notion because this eye condition usually develops as a result of environmental and hereditary factors.
- A person can prevent the illness by wearing reading glasses. There is no evidence that substantiates this claim which means that the progression of myopia will not be inhibited by reading glasses.
- Wearing glasses worsens the situation. Research reveals that those who wear glasses are able to see objects that are far clearly than is the case when they seeing with their naked eyes.
- Weaker glasses are better than stronger glasses. People with inadequate information on short-sightedness assume that weaker glasses will make the eyes work harder. This is without a doubt an erroneous assumption.
- Contact lenses impede myopia progression. Recent research has revealed that contact lenses can impede progression of this condition in some people. However, the research is still inconclusive which means that more time has to be allocated for hard facts to prevail.