Coping with Myopia
One of the most commonplace reasons for being prescribed spectacles is shortsightedness
shortsightedness is another word for nearsightedness. So a nearsighted person sees best when looking up close, however when looking into the distance – struggles to focus. Nobody really understands why one person becomes myopic, there is likely to be a combination of gene problems and environmental elements.
How shortsighted you are is determined by how badly working the cornea and lens of the eye are – as well as how long your eye balls are! Normally, the eye processes a visual light image by interpreting the light signals and transmitting them into electrical signals in the retina. If the eyes focus the light ahead of time, you are shortsighted.
Unlike many other aspects in life, myopia tends to improve with time. Nobody is definitely sure as to why this is, on the other hand it may be the lens becomes stiffer with age and so can not focus the rays of light so acutely. What then follows is the focal point of the light, becomes closer and closer to the retina.
myopia affects about 25% of Americans.
Using a variety of techniques, trained eye care practitioners can assess whether or not a child is able to focus clearly. They use play, retinoscopy and refraction to help them do this carefully.
The type and extent of shortsightedness is determined by additional testing. These tests include an evaluation of the child’s binocular vision, his eye movements, his ability to converge and focus on objects close-up, and his ocular health. Dilation of the eye allows the doctor to check for complications of ROP, diabetes, or degenerative shortsightedness.
There are many children who will be falsely assessed to be shortsighted, because of their natural tendency to over focus. To counter this, a trained eye pratitioner will often elect to dilate the pupils with some eye drops to prevent the child’s lenses from over correcting.
shortsightedness is most commonly treated with spectacles or specs. myopia in preschool children does not need to be corrected with glasses, unless either anisometropia, a condition in which there is a difference of more than 1.00 diopters between the two eyes, or amblyopia, a condition in which a child cannot be corrected to 20/20 with spectacles, is present.
As the child enters school, distance vision becomes critical for learning, and children with prescriptions of at least 1.00 diopter of nearsightedness or who have 20/40 vision or worse should be given glasses. Once a child is diagnosed with shortsightedness, he or she should be examined every six months to a year, and each eye should be corrected to 20/20 at each visit.
The eyeglasses are then usually worn full time, except for children with difficulty with convergence (esophoria), who may remove their spectacles for close work.
