What Is Nearsightedness?

Nearsightedness, or myopia is the inability to properly focus on distant objects. Objects that are near may appear in normal focus, but those at a distance will be blurred. You may find that you can read text in books or newspapers with no problem, but you have trouble reading traffic signs until you're in close proximity.

Nearsightedness is usually brought about by a natural change in the shape of your eye that causes your eye to become more oval shaped, rather than the normal round shape. This causes the light entering the eye to focus in front of the retina, resulting in an out-of-focus image.

Symptoms of Nearsightedness

The main symptom is blurred vision when focusing on distant objects. If you find yourself squinting when looking at far off scenes, you may be nearsighted. If you have trouble seeing words on a blackboard or movie screen, but you can read a book with no problem, you're probably nearsighted. A routine eye examine can determine if you're nearsighted.

Diagnosing Nearsightedness

A routine eye exam will determine if you're nearsighted. Nearsightedness usually begins in childhood or early teens and its effects can vary from mild to moderate to high. Mild cases may not require any corrective action.

Most children are born slightly farsighted, but this corrects itself by the normal development of the eye as the child ages. However, if the correction is too pronounced, the light rays focus in front of the retina instead of directly on the retina, and the child becomes nearsighted.

Treatment of Nearsightedness

Glasses or contact lenses can treat nearsightedness, but surgery can also be performed to cure nearsightedness by reshaping the cornea.

LASIK surgery helps to correct nearsightedness by using a laser to reshape the cornea, and has been used successfully since the early 1990s. The goal of this procedure is to enable you to see without corrective lenses or to be less dependent on corrective lenses. LASIK procedures cause permanent changes in the eye that cannot be reversed.

The LASIK procedure involves cutting a flap in the cornea. This flap is then folded back and the laser modifies the contour. Upon completion of this modification, the flap is folded back to its normal position and the healing process begins. Most patients notice an immediate improvement in their vision.

Most people that elect to have LASIK surgery are very happy with the results they achieve. In many cases, patients of LASIK surgery can see well enough to eliminate the need for corrective lenses. However, some patients will still need to use corrective lenses under certain conditions.

How Long Does LASIK Last?

Research data gathered has shown that almost all LASIK patients have experienced vision improvement immediately after treatment and at least 40% of those patients were able to avoid the use of corrective lenses for ten years following the procedure. It's normal for the eye to change shape as a normal part of the aging process, so retreatment is recommended if significant reshaping occurs after several years.