Nearsightedness: When to wear glasses?

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted by Specialist Doctor II Nguyen Thai Hung - Department of Medical Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Danang International Hospital. Specialist II Nguyen Thai Hung has 13 years of experience as a doctor treating eye diseases.
Nearsightedness is a condition in which you can only see close objects clearly, but far away objects are blurred. Myopia helps to adjust the image to focus properly on the retina so that people with myopia can see better. But it's not necessary to wear glasses for nearsightedness, so how many degrees of nearsightedness should you wear glasses?

1. Overview of myopia

Myopia occurs when the eyeball is too long or the cornea is too curved. As a result, light entering the eye is not focused correctly, causing distant objects to appear blurry. People with myopia will have difficulty seeing clearly the movie or TV screens, whiteboards at school or the road while driving.
This is a very common refractive error, affecting nearly 30% of the US population. Although the exact cause is unknown, there is evidence that many people with nearsightedness are hereditary. If your father and/or mother were nearsighted, you are more likely to have this refractive error as well.
Besides, the way you use your eyes also affects the risk of nearsightedness. People who spend a lot of time reading, working on computers or doing other jobs that require careful observation, using their eyes a lot, etc. will be more prone to myopia. In general, nearsightedness usually occurs in school-age children until about 20 years of age. There are cases where myopia also develops in adults, either due to visual stress or health conditions. Myopia can also occur due to environmental factors or other health problems, namely:
Some people only experience blurred vision at night. With “night myopia”, low light makes it difficult for the eyes to focus properly, or the increased pupil size in dark conditions causes more peripheral, unfocused light rays to reach the eye. People who do jobs that require careful observation may suffer from "false myopia". Blurry distance vision is caused by overuse of the eye's accommodation mechanism. After working for a long time, their eyes cannot focus to see clearly in the distance. If you rest your eyes, you can see clearly again as usual. However, continued visual stress can lead to a permanent decrease in distance vision over time; Myopia symptoms can also be an early sign of cataracts. An ophthalmologist can determine the cause of vision problems through a comprehensive eye exam.

2. What glasses do myopia wear?

Currently, glasses and contact lenses are the two main types of diverging lenses for nearsighted people. Framed glasses are divided into many types, including color-changing glasses, sunglasses for the near-sighted. There are two types of contact lenses, hard and soft. Each type of glass has its own advantages and disadvantages. The choice of what kind of glasses to wear will depend on professional characteristics and personal aesthetics.
2.1. Eyeglasses For most people with nearsightedness, eyeglasses are the primary option for correcting vision. Depending on your degree of nearsightedness, you may need to wear glasses only for certain activities, like when watching movies or driving. If you have severe nearsightedness, you may need to wear glasses at all times. However, it is best to wear glasses regularly even if you have mild myopia.
In general, a single sight lens will be specified to provide clear vision at all distances. However, patients over the age of 40, or children and adults with nearsightedness due to the nature of the job, may need a progressive or progressive lens. These multifocal lenses allow users to see clearly at both near and far distances.
2.2. Contact lenses For some individuals, contact lenses provide clearer and wider vision than regular eyeglasses. In fact, contact lenses are still better and more convenient to use than glasses, however, because contact lenses are worn directly to the cornea, they need to be used and cared for properly to protect eye health.

3. How many degrees of nearsightedness should I wear glasses?

In fact, the eyes will always try to work to their full potential whether you have regular eyeglass glue or not. Myopia will not improve or decrease if you try to practice removing your glasses for any personal reason. However, if people with myopia do not wear glasses, they will not be able to see as clearly as when they have glasses.
Answering the question "How many degrees of myopia should I wear glasses?", the doctors said specifically as follows:
0.25 degrees: Is the smallest degree of myopia, does not affect too much daily life. days so you don't need glasses; 0.50 degrees: Makes your distance vision a little dimmer, but still able to see well without glasses; 0.75 degrees: Should start wearing glasses to avoid affecting daily work, but do not need to use often; 1.00 degrees: Make it difficult for the patient to see far, it is mandatory to wear glasses when doing tasks that require observation such as driving, sewing,... 1.50 degrees: Should wear glasses often to avoid affecting work and daily life 2.00 degrees: It is mandatory to wear glasses when studying and working Above 3.00 degrees: It is a severe case of nearsightedness, if not using glasses, the eyes will constantly adjust. to see more clearly, leading to a rapid increase in myopia, more dangerous is retinal degeneration.

4. Myopia should wear glasses often?

Myopia should wear glasses regularly, in fact will depend on the different needs of each person. For example, people who are middle-aged or do jobs that don't require much vision (office workers) do not need to wear glasses throughout the day.
People with myopia from 1-2 degrees should only wear glasses when looking at a distance, not throughout the day. Otherwise, it will cause the eyes to reduce their ability to adjust when looking up close, gradually depending entirely on glasses. For people who have to work a lot, they should relax their eyes and rest for about 1-2 minutes, alternating every 30 minutes of focused work. Need to sit and work in a place with enough light and do not read documents for a long time to avoid affecting vision. People with nearsightedness or other refractive errors need to have regular eye exams to have their glasses properly adjusted.
Eye specialist at Vinmec has comprehensive vision and eye health care functions for children, adults and the elderly including: refractive error check, laser treatment and surgery. In addition, the department also has the task of coordinating with other clinical departments in the treatment of pathological complications and eye injuries caused by accidents. In addition, the team of Ophthalmologists here are experienced doctors who have performed many types of surgery from routine to difficult surgery, especially techniques that require aesthetics. With enthusiasm and love for the profession, the team of doctors working at Vinmec always gives customers the best services with the highest service quality.

Please dial HOTLINE for more information or register for an appointment HERE. Download MyVinmec app to make appointments faster and to manage your bookings easily.

Reference source: aao.org