If you have a hard time seeing distant objects but can easily see things up close, you may be myopic. For instance, it might be challenging to see highway or street signs until you are just a few feet away, but you can read books and things closer to you with no problem.
Myopia is the medical term for nearsightedness and is a refractive error in the eye that makes distant objects blurry or fuzzy. Myopia is very common, with more than 40% of Americans being nearsighted, and can usually be fixed with glasses, contacts, or eye surgery.
Several studies have shown that myopia is on the rise in the U.S. and around the world, and researchers note the trend will continue to rise throughout the coming decades. In this article, we aim to help you learn more about the causes of myopia, symptoms, and options for treatment.
What Causes Myopia?
Myopia is caused by the structure of your eye. When an eyeball is too long, or the cornea is too curved, the light that enters your eye cannot focus correctly. The images focus in front of the light-sensitive part of your eye instead of on your retina, causing blurred vision.
Risk factors for myopia include:
- Family history of myopia
- Using things more “close-up,” like reading or using screens on smartphones or computers
- Not enough time spent outdoors
- Ethnicity: some groups of people have higher rates of myopia in comparison to others
High Myopia
A more serious form of myopia occurs when the eyeball grows more than it is supposed to and lengthens from front to back. It makes things more challenging to see in the distance and raises the chances of having other conditions develop, like a detached retina, cataracts, and glaucoma.
Degenerative Myopia
Also known as pathological or malignant myopia, this is a rare type of myopia you can inherit genetically. During teenage or early adult years, your eyeball grows longer very quickly, causing more severe myopia. This kind of myopia can worsen into adulthood, and aside from not seeing clearly, you have a higher chance of having a detached retina, abnormal blood vessel growth in the eye, and glaucoma.
Symptoms of Myopia
The most common and obvious symptom of nearsightedness is having blurry vision when looking at objects far away. Those who struggle with myopia might have issues seeing screens from afar or seeing street signs clearly when driving. Children and teenagers with myopia often cannot see or read the whiteboard at school.
Diagnosis and Treatments
How Myopia is Diagnosed
Your eye doctor will perform an eye exam to check for myopia. During the eye exam, your doctor will do the following.
- Medical History — Your eye doctor will ask about your medical history and any medications you’re taking.
- Visual Acuity — This test involves reading the letters or symbols of different sizes on an eye chart.
- Refraction Test — This test requires you to look through a machine with different lenses to see any refraction error in your eyes, and it can also be used to determine your prescription for lenses needed.
- Pupil Exam — To see if your pupils respond correctly, an eye doctor will shine a bright light into your eye. This bright light typically will make pupils shrink, so if they react any differently, there may be a problem.
- Peripheral Vision Test — An eye doctor will also test your peripheral (side) vision by having you view images in a machine. The loss of side vision can be a sign of glaucoma, which is a serious eye condition that may lead to blindness if untreated.
- Eye Movement Test — This tests the muscles that control eye movement, ensuring your eye muscles are healthy and working appropriately.
- Eye Pressure Test — Your doctor will use a machine that releases a puff of air into your eyes to test your eye pressure. A sign of glaucoma is often associated with high eye pressure.
- Eye Health and Structure Exam — Your doctor will check for signs of cataracts or any damage to the cornea, the front part of your eye.
- Retina and Optic Nerve Exam — This may involve using dilating eye drops to widen your pupil to check for damage to the retina and optic nerve. Your eyes may be light-sensitive after this test, so you will need someone to help you get home from your appointment.
Correction and Procedures
Eyeglasses or Contact Lenses
Eyeglasses and contacts are the most popular way to correct myopia. The amount of vision correction needed will determine whether you must constantly wear corrective lenses or if you will only need them when driving.
A single-vision lens makes distance vision clearer. However, people over 40 with myopia may need bifocals or progressive lenses to see clearly near and far.
LASIK or LASEK
LASIK is one of the most common surgeries to correct nearsightedness. This procedure uses a laser to cut a flap through the top portion of the cornea, reshape the inner corneal tissue, and then drop the flap back into place.
LASEK is different because it uses a laser to cut a flap through only the top layer of your cornea (the epithelium). Your eye surgeon will reshape the tissue, and the procedure will be finished by closing the flap.
PRK
Short for “photorefractive keratectomy,” PRK is a type of laser eye surgery that corrects mild or moderate nearsightedness. It also can correct farsightedness and/or astigmatism.
In this procedure, an ophthalmologist will cut off the cornea’s front surface and use a laser to reshape the surface. This flattens it, allowing light rays to become focused on your retina.
LASIK differs from PRK as the ophthalmologist does not cut a flap, and your cornea regrows the top layer in as little as one to two weeks. PRK has proven to be better for those with thin corneas or if they have a rough surface because it disrupts less of the corneal tissue in comparison to LASIK.
Phakic Intraocular Lenses
This option is for those with high myopia or corneas that are too thin for PRK or LASIK. The phakic intraocular lenses are placed inside your eye, right in front of your natural lens.
Intraocular Lens Implant
This procedure will happen before cataracts develop and is a surgery where a new lens is placed in your eye to replace your natural one.
Vision Therapy
If the spasms from your focusing muscles have caused myopia, you may be able to strengthen the muscles using eye exercises and improve your focus. This isn’t always an option for those with myopia, but your eye doctor will let you know if this option is possible based on your individual needs.
Complications of Myopia
Myopia is often easily treated by eye doctors with glasses, contact lenses, or corrective surgeries. However, some cases of myopia can lead to more serious conditions:
- Cataracts
- Glaucoma
- Optic neuropathy
- Neovascularization
- Retinal detachment
Turn to New Vision Eye Center for World-Class Eye Care™
Everyone should regularly schedule eye exams. It’s essential to contact an eye doctor if you have noticed any changes in your vision. You should make an appointment if you’ve noticed your children needing to pull things closer to their faces to see them or notice them squinting.
At New Vision Eye Center in Vero Beach, we value your eye health and provide World-Class Eye Care™ in our patient-first environment. We utilize the latest technology and offer minimally invasive treatments to give you the best eye care possible.
Let us find the best treatment for your myopia. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.