Myopia is the clinical or medical term for nearsightedness. This happens when a person’s vision is blurred when looking at objects that are far away. Myopia can be a debilitating condition and can affect your activities of daily living that is why necessary correction should be made. Correction can be obtained by wearing contact lenses or eye glasses or through ophthalmic surgery. A common surgery for myopia is known as lasik surgery.
There are many causes of myopia but overall, this condition occurs when there is a mismatch in power diopters and length of the eye. The most common cause of nearsightedness is when the eyeball is too long. Another cause is when the curvature of the cornea or the refractive lens is too much. These make the focus of the light that enters the eye to be incorrect thus making the distant objects looked blurred.
Myopia occurs primarily at a young age (school-age children) and progresses until about the age of 20 as the eye continually grow. Even though genetic or hereditary plays a central role in the development of myopia, the actual progress of this condition depends on the how the individual uses his/her eyes. People who spend considerable amount of time reading or working in the computer are more likely to develop myopia. Myopia may also occur as a result of a disease or due to environmental factors.
It is important for your children to undergo regular eye checkup as most children do not complain about this condition. Nearsightedness at some point may stabilize though it may worsen as you age depending on how you use your eyes.
When myopia is debilitating for everyday life, it is important to correct it. Several solutions exist including wearing glasses and lenses. Glasses for myopia were quite heavy and thick and unpleasant until recently. In recent years, with new technologies, ophthalmic lenses have become more elegant and light in weight. The lenses that correct nearsightedness are concave. The lenses are often used in addition to avoid wearing glasses. Some people with sensitive eyes do not support contact lenses.
Ophthalmic surgeries for myopia such as lasik surgery attracted more and more myopic people. The operation is performed under local anesthesia. In most cases, the operation can overcome or lower the degree of using corrective glasses or contact lenses but not in few cases. The procedure greatly improves the vision and most of the time is successful in treating myopia. To learn more about Myopia, visit Phoenix Lasik Surgery home page.
