Myopia worsens when one spends too much time in a state of near focus. Activities such as reading for long periods of time or knitting can lead to a worsening of the condition. To prevent myopia from worsening, spend time outside and try to focus on objects that are in the distance.
What causes nearsightedness? Nearsightedness happens when your eyeball grows too long from front to back, or when there are problems with the shape of your cornea (clear front layer of the eye) or lens (an inner part of the eye that helps the eye focus).
Family history – one myopic parent increases risk by three-fold, while two myopic parents doubles this risk again. Visual environment – less than 90 minutes a day spent outdoors increases risk, especially if combined with more than 3 hours a day spent on near work activities (outside of school time)
Adult myopia progression is believed to be associated with increased amounts of near work causing strain in the eye's focusing system, rather than eye growth as occurs in children.
Asthenopia can be caused by overuse of the eye, for example during a period of prolonged focus on a screen. Any glare on the screen can further strain the eyes. Children with eye fatigue may complain of headaches, eye pain, or feeling tired, headaches. They may lose interest in tasks such as reading.
Blue Light from Phone Screens
You might be more familiar with UV rays and their damaging effects. Although blue light waves aren't as powerful as UV waves, there are still many potential risks. Prolonged exposure to blue light harms vision and eye health by damaging the retina.
At the age of 20, myopia usually levels off. It's also possible for adults to be diagnosed with myopia. When this happens, it's usually due to visual stress or a disease like diabetes or cataracts.
Regular glasses and contact lenses are not enough to slow down the progression of myopia. Left untreated, myopia will get worse over time.
Increased time outside. Spending time outdoors during childhood, adolescence and the early adult years may decrease the risk of developing nearsightedness. Dual focus contact lenses. A type of dual focus contact lens has shown some effect in slowing progression of nearsightedness.
The main cause of myopia progression is an increase in the eye's axial length. Many factors can contribute to this: Wearing glasses all day, everyday could potentially lead to myopia worsening. If a child has low myopia, glasses should only be worn sometimes, for activities such as watching TV or playing sports.
Individuals who spend considerable time reading, working at a computer, playing video games or doing other intense close visual work may be more likely to develop myopia.
Mild myopia includes powers up to -3.00 dioptres (D). Moderate myopia, a power of -3.00D to -6.00D. High myopia is usually a power over -6.00D.
Studies reveal that high levels of screen time are associated with around a 30% higher risk of myopia. And combined with excessive computer use, this increases the risk to around 80%.
Constant connection can heighten high or degenerative myopia, severe nearsightedness that progressively worsens and can lead to cataracts, glaucoma and retinal detachment – since the eyeball stretches and the retina thins – but thankfully, it's rare.
The natural way of reducing myopia can be done by living a healthy lifestyle and doing positive activities, including relaxing the eyes so that the eye muscles do not become tense. It's important to note that myopia cannot be cured by exercise, herbal remedies, or massage. The proper treatment must be done medically.
Myopia is typically diagnosed between the ages of 8 and 12. Changes in prescription often slow down about the age of 20, when our eyes begin to stop growing. Many people will not experience an increasing degree of myopia as they exit their 20s, but diagnosis as a child will usually remain with someone their whole life.
Research suggests that frequent reading during childhood can raise a person's risk of developing myopia. But reading isn't the only culprit. Those same eye muscles are used for other types of "near work," including tablet use, drawing, and any other sustained task performed within arm's length.
Eye glasses (spectacles) can be used to correct blurred vision from myopia, and special designs can also slow myopia progression in children and teenagers.
While myopia is a common and treatable condition, researchers are concerned about how many more people are nearsighted today than in relatively recent years. Just a little more than 45 years ago, about 25 percent of Americans aged 12 to 54 had myopia.
Myopia, or nearsightedness, is a common vision problem that often begins between the ages of 6 and 14. It affects an estimated 5% of preschoolers, about 9% of school aged children and 30% of adolescents. Children are more likely to develop myopia if their parents are nearsighted.
Emmetropic eyes grow by around 0.1-0.2mm per year before age 10 whilst myopic eyes grow more than 0.3mm per year. Accelerated growth of more than 0.2mm per year could indicate pre-myopia.
Looking at a bright screen in low-light environments can cause an irritating glare. Using dark mode significantly reduces glare, which leads to more comfortable viewing. If you don't want to use dark mode, manually dimming your screen with the default theme will have the same effect.
Take frequent breaks.
The American Optometric Association recommends the 20/20/20 rule: look away from the screen every 20 minutes, focus on an object at least 20 feet away, for at least 20 seconds. In addition, children should walk away from the screen for at least 10 minutes every hour.
Studies show young people are particularly susceptible to blue light affecting sleep. Luckily, our technology has adapted. A simple way to avoid both sleep disruption and eye strain is to turn on night mode on our iPhone or Android devices.”