A guide to Nearsightedness: Understand the condition, symptoms and treatment.

Nearsightedness is a pandemic eye disorder that's on its highest peak than ever. In the UK itself, 30% of adults have myopia, and it's not only affecting the young adults of total 50% of an undergraduate being myopic, but it also affects 10% of primary school kids as well. The latest data showcase that 47% of European adults aged between 20-29 are short-sighted and the percent doubles up when talking about adults aged between 50-59. 

The question is, what is this eye disorder, and why is it becoming more widespread across all nations. What's the root cause of nearsightedness and what's the treatment?

What does nearsightedness mean?

Nearsightedness is also called myopia which comes from a Greek word called "myuops" meaning short-sighted. Nearsightedness is an eye disorder that allows you to see only the short-sighted objects. Distant objects appear blurry and unclear to recognise them. Nearsightedness is a refractive error in your eyes that constructs an image in front of the retina rather than on the retina. Therefore, you are only able to see images at a short distance, not the far ones. Nearsightedness not only causes vision problems but if left untreated, it is responsible for developing severe vision loss and other eye-related diseases. 

Let's dive into the scientific definition of nearsightedness?

As mentioned earlier, nearsightedness in an eye disorder that occurs when the reflected light focuses in front of the retina instead of on the retina. It's a form of refractive error (inability to bend, refract or focus the light rays properly) in which parallel rays of light (i.e. coming from a distant source) after entering the eyes are focused in the front of the retina. Since the light rays fall before the retina, it causes distant objects to be blurry while the near or up-close objects seem normal and crystal clear. 

Why is treating nearsightedness a Universal need of the moment?

Nearsightedness is not only a common problem but a severe threat to eyes across the world. It is one of the most common eye problems that are virtually responsible for affecting more than 22% of the total population that is 1.5 billion people across the world. The rates are significantly increasing every year, and the UK itself has more than half of its adult population myopic. It's crucial to treat nearsightedness because it heavily contributed to many ocular diseases in the upcoming years like glaucoma, retain breakage and detachment, cataract, etc.

What are the symptoms of nearsightedness? 

When do you come to know that you have nearsightedness? Here are some symptoms that help you recognise nearsightedness:

• The primary nearsightedness symptoms you experience initially are eye-strain and headaches. 

• You might experience a hard time identifying objects from far or watching a film in theatres.

• If you are a student, you might not see clearly what's written on the board of your class or can't read street shop names from a long way. 

• These distances are not very far that is physically not possible for anyone to see but are pretty average. They can be clearly viewed by a person who is not myopic and retains a clear vision.

• You also start to experience a loss of visual acuity and see blurred images. 

When you receive such visual symptoms, get an eye test immediately to treat your eyes well before it attains an unrecoverable stage. You can book an instant free eye test at Specscart where you can visit one of it's stores in Walkden and Bury or book an eye examination at home. 

What are the causes of nearsightedness? 

The nearsightedness vision has many underlying factors that result in nearsightedness. However, it is considered that genetics and our lifestyle factors lead up to the creation of nearsightedness. Here are some of the chief reasons for this prominent eye condition:

Heavy focus on close objects:

The prolong hours of digital use and dependence is also one of the most prime reasons for nearsightedness for this generation. Putting a lot of effort by looking closely into smartphones or performing other up-close work like reading for extended hours and days result in nearsightedness. 

Genetics:

Nearsightedness equally occurs because of hereditary reasons. It is passed on from your parents to you, and you can start to feel it's effect quite early in age. 

Inadequate light exposure:

Our modern lifestyle has turned more indoors, playing games and performing everything behind locked doors. It has a negative impact on our eyes. Immense amounts of indoors time spent in dim light or highly lit rooms cause severe impacts on your eyes leading into myopia.

Less amount of Physical activity:

Not doing any physical activity causes you unhealthy, prevents you away from the sun and offers insufficient amounts of light in your eyes. All these factors add up to the cause of nearsightedness, and hence physical activity is required for good eye health. 

Diabetes affects the eyes:

Diabetes is also responsible for causing myopia. Retina remains in a bad state in a diabetic person as it develops microvascular abnormality, which involves a leak in blood vessels because they are weak. The leakage is also responsible for creating nearsightedness and even permanent vision loss. 

What are some ways for nearsightedness prevention?

Many environmental reasons and genetics cause nearsightedness; however, you can make a few lifestyle changes to prevent it. Here are some beneficial points that support you to prevent nearsightedness:

Spend more time Outdoors -

As we discussed earlier, Outdoor activities are a considerable way to prevent nearsightedness. You obtain an adequate amount of light from the sun and will get a good dose of Vitamin D.  It's important that you restrict yourself from dim and highly lit fluorescent light rooms. 

Use Reading Glasses -

To prevent more up-close work or eliminate extreme focus at any work, use reading glasses. Reading glasses helps to see objects comfortably at a near distance without putting much pressure on the eyes. 

What are the varying degrees of nearsightedness?

Nearsightedness is measured in a unit called dioptres denoted as D. Here are three different degrees of nearsightedness. 

Low nearsightedness (< 3.00 D) - Known as a mild form of nearsightedness. It lies between -3.00 diopter and less.

Medium nearsightedness (3.00 D - 6.00 D) - Moderate form of nearsightedness lies between -3.00 to -6.00 diopters. 

High nearsightedness (> 6.00 D) - Higher nearsightedness is marked as a higher degree of nearsightedness than average. It is above -6.00 dioptre, and it is considered as progressive myopia. 

Can nearsightedness be cured naturally?

Nearsightedness is not a curable eye disorder. You can't get your vision back to normal naturally; however, you can get a clear image for distant viewing using vision correction devices. Clear distant vision is possible with the use of minus power concave lenses or prescription glasses. You can also use contact lenses or surgical procedures to treat your myopic eyes. 

How to treat Near-sightedness?

Nearsightedness/Myopia can be treated with varifocal glasses also known as single refractive glasses or progressive glasses. You can use concave lens glasses or contact lenses to manage your eyes better. However, glasses are much more prefered over contact lenses because they are versatile in nature and feel comfortable to carry around. When the concave lenses are placed in front of the eye, the light rays fall back to the retina hence producing a clear distant vision. Not treating your myopic eyes could lead to a more significant number of problems; thus, it is highly recommended that when you experience such mentioned symptoms, go for an eye test and get the right glasses.