One of the worst things you can do, in terms of the health of your eyes, is to battle on regardless if you suspect your vision is compromised.
If you require glasses, putting off the inevitable is not a wise move.
Though medical science has come a long way, eyes are such a complex and intricate physical feature that protecting them properly makes absolute sense.
This doesn’t just mean being careful to wear sunglasses, or avoiding using harsh chemicals around your eyes.
It can also mean visiting an optician for regular checks and also being swift to raise concerns in-between your annual eye examination appointments.
This is especially true for children and the elderly. Apart from eye strain caused by vision problems, poorly functioning eyes can cause falls and other risks.
So what sort of eye conditions require you to select a stylish pair of glasses or some comfortable contact lenses?
Short Sightedness (myopia)
This is also sometimes referred to as near-sightedness.
It involves a decreased ability to see objects and movement in the distance. Your ability to distinguish detail in the things that are closer to you could be completely unaffected.
What Causes Myopia?
Blurred vision when looking into the distance is caused by the way your eye is processing the different light stimulation. The structure of your eye has changed over time. It generally involves a lengthening of the eyeball, when measured from the front to the back.
The result is that light can’t reach the retina (at the back) with the same efficiency, making detail harder to see.
Long Sightedness (Hyperopia)
Farsightedness is clearly the opposite of short-sightedness.
Your ability to discern detail in objects in the distance could be fine. However, your vision is blurred when looking at things that are close to you.
Often the first indication of this is that you struggle to read your book, newspaper or menu.
What Causes Hyperopia?
There are a number of reasons why your eyes may be compromised in the way that they process input from close objects.
It could, for example, be caused by a shortening of your eyeballs’ structure. Or, possibly your cornea is not sufficiently curved. Either of these causes the light emitted by objects immediately in front of you to travel behind the retina, rather than hitting it directly.
This deterioration in your ability to see close up could be the result of your age, a genetic feature or the result of medical conditions such as diabetes.
Astigmatism
This is a very common medical condition. It’s the term used to encompass various ways in which the eye’s cornea can be misshapen, which manifests as blurred vision. Other symptoms can be the need to screw your eyes up to see clearly, headaches or eye fatigue.
You may hear astigmatism referred to as a squint.
Often it can be spotted in routine eye examinations in childhood, as many of the more pronounced variations are thought to be hereditary. In some cases, it can be corrected in young children, leading to improvements in their vision.
Aging And Eyes
As we age, the shape and flexibility of our eyes naturally deteriorate.
This can lead to multiple challenges, including having a combination of myopia and hyperopia, which requires bifocal or varifocal glasses to compensate and redirect the optic information.
Presbyopia is the medical term for “aging eyes” and refers to a growing inflexibility that reduces the natural ability to process light. Though it is irreversible, as with other eye conditions outlined above, corrective eyewear can go a long way to alleviating the problems caused.
What To Do Next
If you have any concerns about your eye health and your ability to discern detail either close to you or in the distance, then don’t hesitate to seek help.
Book an eye examination so the experts can investigate the cause, permanence and solution as quickly as possible.
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