What is Nearsightedness

Nearsightedness

Nearsightedness, or myopia, as it is medically termed, is a
vision condition in which objects up close can be seen clearly,
but objects farther away are blurred.

In nearsightedness, the eyeball is either too long or the
cornea, the clear front cover of the eye, has too much
curvature. This prevents light entering the eye from being
focused correctly and, as a result, words, people, or objects at
a distance appear blurry or out of focus. The first signs of
nearsightedness often appear in school-age children and can
progress, as a child grows.

Researchers believe nearsightedness is often genetic. If one
or both parents are nearsighted, the odds increase that their
children will be nearsighted too. However, the condition can
also be caused by how a child uses his or her eyes. The stress
of too much close vision work such as reading, working at a
computer, or doing other intense close visual tasks can lead
to problems with blurred distance vision.

In some cases, it is possible for a child to experience a
"pseudo" or false myopia. When the eyes' focusing
mechanism is over worked, it is unable to refocus quickly and
the result is temporarily blurred vision. After resting the
eyes, the symptoms usually abate and clear distance vision
may return. However, over time constant visual stress may
lead to a permanent reduction in distance vision.

If your child is experiencing difficulty seeing distant objects
clearly like a movie or TV screen, or the chalkboard in school,
that's a typical sign of nearsightedness. Vision can be
improved with eyeglasses or contact lenses.

Vision therapy is also an option for improving blurred
distance vision when it's caused by a spasm of the eye
focusing muscles. Various eye exercises can be used to
improve poor eye focusing ability and regain clear distance
vision.