What It Means To Be Nearsighted?

The correct term for being Nearsighted is myopia. Nearsightedness is the inability to focus on objects in the distance but no difficulty viewing nearby objects or doing close up work. If you have nearsighted vision you will most likely have to wear contact lenses or eyeglasses.

Signs And Symptoms Of Nearsighted Vision

If you suffer from nearsightedness you will most likely experience blurred distance vision which may seem to become clearer when squinting. Other signs can include recurrent headaches, feeling fatigued when trying to focus on distance objects or when driving, or playing sports.

Detecting And Diagnosing Nearsightedness

If is very easy to detect nearsightedness and you eye care practitioner will carry out a nearsighted test and a refraction test. Nearsightedness is the result of light rays from distance objects being refracted more than is necessary and this problem is most common in childhood.

Nearsightedness is usually the result of a bulging cornea or an elongated eyeball which refracts light more than is necessary. The result of this is that images of distant objects will form in front of the retina instead of on the retina where the light detecting nerve cells are located. This will result in a blurry image when looking at distance objects.

Treating Nearsightedness

The treatment for nearsightedness will depend on a number of factors. These factors include the patient’s age, activities, and occupation. Nearsightedness can often be corrected with eyeglasses, contact lenses, and laser eye surgery. Refractive procedures such as lasik eye surgery can usually only be considered for adults once the nearsightedness prescription has remained stable for a least one year.

In order to cure nearsightedness the eye needs to be equipped with a diverging lens. The problem with nearsightedness is that light is focused in front of the retina and not on the retina so a diverging lens helps to reduce the refracting power of the eye and diverge the light before it reaches the eye. This in turn allows the cornea and the lens to converge the light and produce an image on the retina.

 
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