Nearsightedness or myopia is the most common refractive error. While it’s usually detected during your younger years, it can affect anyone at any age. Insight Vision Center Optometry, your trusted orthokeratology clinic, explains how it develops and ways to manage this problem.
How Myopia Develops
Ideally, light that enters your eyes is bent and focused directly on your retina. An eyeball that’s too long, however, may cause the light rays the eyes receive to fall in front of the retina instead of on it. An enlarged or rigid cornea may also lead to this problem. While the cause of these structural irregularities remains unclear, studies show that heredity plays a large role in myopia development.
Typical Myopia Symptoms
With the impaired light-bending process, you may have a hard time recognizing objects or faces far from you. You may squint while trying to read street signs. As you’re forcing your eyes to view distant figures, you may develop headaches or eye strains later on. Meanwhile, you have no problems seeing nearby things clearly.
Myopia Detection and Management
If you experience any of these symptoms, head to your trusted eye clinic as soon as possible. We’ll perform a complete eye assessment to check for signs of myopia or any other vision problems. This may include a visual acuity exam where we’ll ask you to stand at a certain point while you read letters from the Snellen chart.
Using prescription eyeglasses or contact lenses is the standard vision correction method for myopia. Wearing them regularly can help you see better, especially things far from you. We may also recommend ortho-k. This involves using gas-permeable lenses while you sleep, precisely designed to reshape your cornea overnight so you can wake up to an improved eyesight. We may evaluate if LASIK or other refractive surgeries may work for you as well.
Call us today at (714) 486-3315 to learn more about nearsightedness. You may also fill out our contact form to request an appointment. We serve Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and the surrounding California communities.