True or false?
Wearing glasses all of the time will weaken your eyes. (click for answer)
FALSE. There is no evidence that the eyes or brain can strengthen the vision by training them without glasses. Glasses can alleviate eye strain and headaches caused by uncorrected vision. Conversely, going without glasses will not cause damage to the eyes. As long as your vision allows for safe driving, you can achieve your daily tasks without glasses. See more on Premium Lens Technology.
In those children who are younger than 10 and prescribed glasses, they are absolutely necessary to strengthen the visual pathways and prevent amblyopia (‘lazy eye’).
Astigmatism can be corrected.
TRUE. As long as the astigmatism is regular, which is the case for most individuals, it can be corrected with glasses, contact lenses (toric), LASIK/PRK and toric intraocular lenses at the time of cataract surgery.
Using the computer for long periods of time will weaken your eyes.
FALSE. While using the computer for long periods at a time can cause eye strain or fatigue, it will not cause damage to the eyes. Currently, there is no strong evidence for wearing blue blocking lenses at the computer during the day. While wearing at night and in the early morning can help set the circadian rhythm, there is no evidence that it helps with computer strain. Dryness exacerbated by staring is usually the culprit here.
See Dry Eye Disease.
Having 20/20 vision means that your eyes are perfect.
FALSE. The term 20/20 is just one metric of how your eyes perform during an eye exam. It means that you have great central vision. However, there are other aspects of the vision that can be affected, such as peripheral vision. Glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy are two common conditions that can go unnoticed without regular eye exams. This is why screening exams are so important.
Sitting too close to the TV will hurt your eyes.
FALSE. While it won’t hurt your eyes, there is mounting evidence that spending time inside and near activities in children is strongly associated with progressive myopia (i.e. nearsightedness). Myopia in small amounts is relatively benign and corrected with glasses or contact lenses. However, in larger amounts, myopia can have multiple implications for vision loss including: retinal tears, retinal detachment, lattice degeneration, myopic macular degeneration, choroidal neovascularization (similar to wet macular degeneration), staphyloma, pigment dispersion syndrome, cataracts.
See Eye Health for more ways to ensure you maintain good eye health.
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