Eyes

Myopia

In a perfect eye, incoming light is focused on the macula. However, not every eye is perfect. If the image is brought to a focus before reaching the macula, the condition of myopia exists. You might have heard myopia referred to as being near sighted. Generally speaking, a person who is nearsighted has blurred vision at a distance, but clear vision up close.

The usual cause of myopia is an eyeball that is slightly longer than normal. This causes image to focus too early. Myopia is corrected with minus lenses. A minus lens spreads apart the in-coming image just enough to cause the focused image to fall on the retina instead of in front of it.

Myopia tends to run in families. In the elderly, myopia can develop due to cataracts. Nearsighted children almost always love their glasses, and there is no fight to get them to wear them. Many teens then progress to contact lenses. Modern refractive surgery can easily correct mild to moderate myopia, and is becoming increasingly popular.

The fact that the myopic eyeball is longer than normal has several implications for the health of the eye. For one thing, a nearsighted person is unlikely to develop certain kinds of glaucoma (angle closure glaucoma). However, the elongated eye can tend to stretch the retina (inner lining of the eye). This can lead to retinal tears and detachments. Any person noticing symptoms of retinal detachment (floaters/specks in the vision and/or flashing lights) should call his or her eyecare physician at once.