Near-sighted

Question: Near Sighted? I'm 14 but my eyes are -7.5 degress, which is BAD! I've first got my glasses in Grade 4 and now my eyes are getting worse and worse. What can I do to prevent this other than LASIK.

Answer: I have been nearsighted since jr high...my normal vision is 20/400 (pretty close to leagally blind!) I used glasses fr a year and each year my prescription got worse, I eventually started using contacts (which I LOVE!!!) and my eyes kept getting worse year after year. Now I am 29 and for the past 2 years, my eyes have leveled off. My doctor says that eventually your eyes do even out and settle in a specific prescription. I looked into LASIK and I thought about getting it done...I heard many great stories about it, but then I heard that later on down the road you will have to either get it redone or wind up wearing glasses anyway, so I figured, why spend the $$, just to have it done again ro to end up here I am now....I guess its all up to the person's individual preferences....research the dr beforehand too but like a previous person said, glasses arent that bad (and contacts are not so bad either!)

Question: What is the difference between just being near sighted and having a catract? I have blurry vision and am very near sighted, but wearing glasses helps but the glasses make me feel a bit dizzy.

Answer: A cataract is a clouding that develops in the crystalline lens of the eye or in its envelope, varying in degree from slight to complete opacity and obstructing the passage of light. Early in the development of age-related cataract the power of the lens may be increased, causing near-sightedness (myopia), and the gradual yellowing and opacification of the lens may reduce the perception of blue colours. Cataracts typically progress slowly to cause vision loss and are potentially blinding if untreated. The condition usually affects both the eyes, but almost always one eye is affected earlier than the other.[1] Myopia (Greek: μυωπία, muōpia, "nearsightedness"[1]), is a refractive defect of the eye in which collimated light produces image focus in front of the retina when accommodation is relaxed.

Question: How effective is pinhole glasses to near sighted sufferer? I am -5 near sighted. Can the pinhole glasses treatment be effective to me?

Answer: Actually the pinhole doesn't really treat myopia.

Question: Can a near-sighted person acquire a pilot's license? I was wondering if I would be able to obtain a pilot's license. The only problem that I see is that I'm quite myopic (near-sighted), so I definitely need to wear my glasses to see clearly. I know that I have to pass a vision test, but do they allow people to wear glasses for the vision test?

Answer: Sure. I'm nearsighted myself and had no trouble getting my PP-ASEL certificate. THey let you keep your glasses on, but your medical will have a notation that you must wear glasses in flight. Just to see what it was like, I once tried landing WITHOUT my glasses. Don't worry, my instructor was in the other seat ready to take over. I found that I could not read the instruments exactly, but I could see the position of the needles approximately, and knew where they were supposed to be for an approach. I could also see the runway pretty clearly. So I no longer worry about dying if I break my glasses in flight :-)

Question: Can you become a police officer if you are near sighted? I wear glasses/contacts and I am near sighted with about -8.00 power lenses. Is there a requirement for vision for police to join?

Answer: if ur eyes r bad then u will not b able to become a cop.

Question: Is having my laptop close to my face making me more and more near-sighted? I'm near-sighted and wear glasses and some of my relatives are saying it's because the laptop is either too close to my face or because I'm on it to much. What is the explanation for my near-sightedness that seems to be getting worse? Now I'm really confused. I've gotten two completely different answers, and I have no idea who to trust!

Answer: Adam has it right! Before lap tops were invented, people developed nearsightedness and it was blamed on sitting too close to the TV, before TV was invented it was blamed on reading books/school work, I don't know what they blamed it in before books were invented (maybe too much drawing on cave walls or evil spirits or something). The thing is, primarily for genetic reasons, some people become nearsighted, it happens whether or not you use the computer, watch TV, play video games, wear your glasses or don't wear your glasses. And, as he said, your vision will usually stabilize when you stop growing, typically about 20 or so.

Question: Can being near-sighted distort the way you see your complexion? Whenever I look in the mirror it's a bit blurry (bad eyesight) but when I look closely I see clear so no worries. But recently I look through my glasses and my face seemed different than before. I'm just wondering if being near-sighted distorted the way I looked at my appearance. Or is it just in my head that I look different with better vision?

Answer: You get used to it. It is called the just noticeable difference.

Question: What do people do in ancient time when they are near sighted and there were no glasses? What do people do in ancient time when they are near sighted and there were no glasses

Answer: The best they could.

Question: Do you need a medical to be a sport pilot if you are near sighted? Do u need a physical before going up in air? If I want to become a sport pilot, and I'm near sighted, do I need to have a medical or physical? Do I need a medical before going up in the air for the first time as a sport pilot? Also, is there an age limit for this?

Answer: Miami, all you need to medically qualify to pilot a Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) is a driver's license. No other medical examination is required. If you passed the driver's license eye examination, you're good to fly the LSA! Enjoy - CQ

Question: If you are near sighted do contact lenses distort your near vision? I am thinking about getting contact lenses. I have terrible far-sight but my near sight is good and when I wear glasses they distort my near vision so bad that I have to take my glasses off when I am stepping off a curb, say or reading. But this is fairly easy to do with glasses, do contacts also do this? If I wear contacts to correct my far vision will it distort my good near vision?

Answer: I can't see a thing at a distance, but I can read the tiniest writing on the chart up close. I wear contacts and they do not bother my near vision at all. Neither do my glasses. You wouldn't happen to have bifocals would you? I hear they can cause what you are discribing... if not, I would see a new eye doctor.. because I don't have any of those problems.

Question: Would bangs covering my eyes make me near sighted? It's NOT completely covered, just barely. I see like 2 strands of hair with my eyes and that is it. but my parents r complaining on how that would make me near sighted.

Answer: This is one of the silliest things I have ever read. Hair in front of your eyes will not make your nearsighted.

Question: What exactly casues a person to become near-sighted? (and the science behind it)? So what exactly makes a person need to get glasses to see? How do stigmatisms (spelt wrong) form? As in what is the literal physical/chemical change in your eyes that casues blurred vision? I have heard that people can become near sighted without a stigma eye but just curious. No answers like, reading a book too closely, looking at the monitor too much and ect. please.

Answer: Someone may need glasses if they are short sighted or long sighted. Short sightedness (myopia) occurs when the eye is too long for the optical power of the lens inside the eye, or when the lens cannot stretch far enough to accommodate to see something far away. Therefore, when light enters the eye the image of what you are looking at is projected infront of the retina creating a blurred image. Long sightedness (hyperopia) is when the eye is too short for the optical power of the lens or when the lens cannot contract enough to see something in the near distance. This then causes the image to be projected behind the retina. A corrective lens infront of the eye then makes up for any of these defects and helps the light to be project on to the retina where the image is focused correctly. An astigmatism is slightly different, this is when the cornea is shaped differently to how it should be. A normal cornea should be spherical, if this changes and becomes more of an aspherical shape. This is described by many as when the eye is more of a rugby ball shape as opposed to a football shape. Again it creates a blurred vision due to the fact that when light enters the eye if it moves through the front part of your eye that isn't sphercial in shape it can create two focal points in the eye. To correct this a second power must be used inside the corrective lens so that theres only one focal point on the retina. Most people do have a slight astigmatism, but this can change as the body is always changing. However, you don't always have an astigmatism if you need glasses, it might just be that you can't see things far away or close up.

Question: What happens when a baby is born extremely near-sighted? Are they ever mistaken for being blind? How can a doctor tell the difference between severe near-sightedness and blindness in a baby? Thanks.

Answer: As you may have guessed, it isn't easy. The doctor first looks into the eyes for obvious problems like cataracts and structural defects. Probably the doctor uses a small bright light to see if the pupil contracts. Newborns aren't particularly sensitive to normal light levels, but there should be some response. Because near-sightedness results from the shape of the lens not being able to cast the image on the retina, and because infants don't focus on anything anyway for at least a few weeks, nearsightedness is not one of those things you can pick up at birth. But blindness is not bad focusing; it's the inability to send anything to the brain.

Question: Why does your near sighted vision get worse at age forty? My eyes changed from near sighted to far sighted.

Answer: it's called getting old.

Question: If you are near sighted can your vision improve if you don't wear glasses? Some people said not wearing glasses did improve their vision, while others said it didn't, but nobody specified if they were near sighted or far sighted. So if you are near sighted and you don't wear your glasses did the doctor say your vision improved or not? Anybody that knows their stuff, please answer.

Answer: That makes no sense. You need to wear glasses because your vision became worse before the time you got glasses, right? If your eyes became worse before you got glasses, so obviously you weren't wearing glasses when your eyes became worse to the point of needing them, right? So, does it makes sense that not wearing your glasses now will make your eyes better? Glasses do nothing to change eyesight anyway. Your eyes will get better or worse as they will. Glasses only focus light where it needs to be for your current prescription. If you need stronger or weaker glasses later on, it has nothing to do with the glasses or how much / little you wear them. It's because your eyes have changed.

Question: What is the highest near sighted prescription you can get a soft contact lens in? And can you find out what your vision is(20/20) from your contact lens prescription? And when is someone considered legally blind? My right eye is -6.50 and my left eye is -8.0, is that bad? Thanks to all who answer!

Answer: Custom made contacts can be made up to any power needed...even - 30.00 No, you can't find your visual acuity ( 20/20) from your contact prescription. Legally blind is someone who can't see the big E on the chart , even with the best glasses possible. When they can't be corrected to better than 20/200 in the best eye , or the field of vision is 20% or less , they can qualify as legally blind. Is your prescription bad ?...well, it's pretty strong, but as long as you can see well with your glasses or contacts , that's the important thing.

Question: Is it possible for near sighted people to have clearer eye sight? For example the grade of your eyeglasses is L=225 R=200 is it possible for example that the grade of your eyeglasses become lower? Is the only way to correct it is to have a Laser surgery?

Answer: It certainly is possible but it's neither fast nor easy. There are natural techniques based on exercises that can be really effective. Unfortunately there are many scams which you'll recognize by their price ,always high, and by the promise of wonderful results in a short time, which is impossible. The only exercises that work are those who require a lot of time and patience. I found a book which described a visual training program and I decided to follow it because it promised no miracles, just hard work. My initial prescription was 3.75 (sometimes written as 375) and now it's 1.75. it took me almost a year, but I admit I've been quite lazy and with a bit more of commitment results could have been faster . This is the book : http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Perfect-Vision-Prevent-Nearsightedness/dp/1556436777/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244465433&sr=1-1 As I said don't expect anything fast and easy. Besides the exercises the most important thing is the correct use of glasses, i.e. never use them to read, study and in general when you can see well enough without them. Full prescription (in your case 225 and 200) should be used as little as possible, just when you really need it. In other circumstances you should use undercorrection (weaker glasses) otherwise the exercises will be useless.

Question: Does a near sighted vision can be cure by replacing the lens of the eye by artificial one? I have a severe nearsighted vision and im wondering if replacing of the lens of my eye (like catarct operation which is more cheaper than LASIK) will improve my vision.

Answer: Yes, and there is also the option of adding an intraocular implant* just in front of the iris, for people whose Rx is above that recommended for Lasik etc. The trouble with removing the natural lens in people under 45-50 is that it also removes the eye's ability to re-focus for different distances, so even with good distance vision (not assured, only likely), reading glasses immediately become necessary. There are bifocal implant/lens options, but they have their own complexities and potential side-effects. The anterior chamber implant, in younger people, preserves that refocusing ability but may make cataract surgery a little more complex, later in life. Although cataract surgery and these "spin offs" from it are about as safe as surgery comes, all surgery carries some degree of risk. *"Insertable contact lens" is the preferred euphemism in some circles.

Question: What kind of exercise or treatment can I use to correct near-sighted eye ? I would not like to do surgery. I'd better try different treatment options.

Answer: Eyeglasses.

Question: How do the near sighted play a contact sport.? I wear glasses but am wanting to get into a contact sport. One in which I may be getting hit directly in the eye. Do they make special contacts for such people or is corrective surgery the only option?

Answer: Corrective surgery is a good option, Because getting hit in the eye could cause problems with sweat and blood getting into the eye, it could wash out lenses.