Myopia What Is It What Is it Caused By and How Is It Corrected

Chicago Myopia Treatment

A visit to the eye doctor is usually scheduled to take care of a problem. Maybe you’re having trouble seeing clearly when you drive at night, maybe you need sunglasses, or maybe your son or daughter can’t see the blackboard in class. The latter condition is called myopia, commonly referred to as nearsightedness. It describes the condition of being able to clearly see things that are up close, but having trouble seeing things far away.

What Causes Myopia?

To understand Myopia it is first important to understand a normal (nonmypoic) eye, called emmotropic eye looks like and how it works to help you see clearly. When light enters the eye through the dark black opening of the eye called the pupil, light rays are actually bent by two powerful structures of the eye. The first is the clear outer covering of the eye called the Cornea, as light rays pass further into the eye they are further bent by the interoccular lens so that all the light rays come together to form a perfect focal point on the retina.

Myopia is caused by a one of several factors or a combination of all three. First cornea can be too steep in curvature, second the interoccular lens can be too powerful or third the length of the eye from measured from the retina to the back of the interoccular lens can be too great a distance. These conditions cause light to focus in front of the retina rather than directly on the retina. Nearsightedness is usually inherited, and according to WebMD, a child is more likely to be nearsighted if one of both parents are as well. The condition is also sometimes referred to as “eye too long” or “eye too strong,” which causes difficulty seeing things clearly when they are farther away.

How Is It Corrected?

An optometrist, or eye doctor, can help you correct myopia or nearsightedness. It can’t be cured without surgery such as Lasik, but prescription glasses or contact lenses can be worn to make vision more clear. In order to correct the vision, a “minus” lens is used—a concave lens, which bends light rays outward, assisting the eye so light focuses on point on the retina. Lasik can be used as well, which changes the shape of the cornea and corrects vision.