Myopia

General Information on Myopia

Myopia, or nearsightedness, is a refractive disorder in which light is focused in front of the retina instead of on the retina. This causes the affected person to have difficulty clearly seeing distant objects. This does not affect the person’s ability to clearly see objects that are close up. The severity of the myopia determines how far away an object can be prior to its distortion. In a mild case, the affected person can see objects that are several yards away clearly without any problems. In severe cases of myopia, the affected person can only clearly see objects that are a few inches away. Myopia can be a gradual or a rapid onset. Myopia has a tendency to run in families and to worsen mostly during childhood and adolescence. There are two main ways a person can become affected by myopia. The first is when the eye is too large causing light to be focused in front of the retina instead of directly on it. The second is when the cornea is curved too much causing the light to be focused in front of the retina instead of directly on it.

Symptoms of Myopia

Some of the symptoms of myopia may be:

Persistent squinting
Needing to be close to objects in order to see them
Inability to see distant objects
Distant objects appear to be blurry
Headaches caused by eye strain

Treatments For Myopia

The treatment for myopia is either corrective lenses or refractive surgery. The goal of corrective lenses and refractive surgery is to focus the light on the retina as oppose to the light being focused in front of the retina. There are two forms of corrective lenses. There are eyeglasses and contact lenses. These are worn and instantly correct the myopia. Refractive surgery surgically reshapes the cornea correcting the myopia. There are several different forms of refractive surgery. They are LASIK surgery, LASEK surgery, PRK surgery, and an IOL implant. LASIK (laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis) surgery is a procedure in which the cornea is flattened. LASEK (laser-assisted subepithelial keratomileusis) surgery is a procedure in which the cornea is flattened and epithelial flap is repositioned. PRK (photorefractive keratectomy) is a procedure that is similar to LASEK surgery, but the epithelial flap is removed and grows back naturally over the new shape of the cornea. An IOL implant (anterior chamber intraocular lens implant) is similar to a contact lens that is surgically implanted over the eye.

Personal Experience

Myopia - personal experiences