Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Eyeglasses Can Fix Common Vision Problems

Your eye works by focusing light reflected off of objects onto your retina, which then, in turn, turns those stimuli into electrical impulses that the brain translates into vision. See the information about the way eyes work. The complexity of the eye means there are many things that can go wrong and make it hard to focus or see clearly. Luckily, three of the most common issues are correctable with eyeglasses.

You've probably heard people describe their vision as being something like 20/20 or 20/100. These numbers are arrived at through a simple formula. Perfect vision is called 20/20 because the person can see a letter on the eye chart that should be clear at a distance of 20 feet from 20 feet away. A high second number indicates that you have trouble seeing at a distance. Let's take, as an example, a person with 20/60 vision. When a person has 20/60 vision, it means that they must be 20 feet from something to see it clearly when it should be clear at 60 feet away.

When a person has a vision of higher than 20/20, that person has myopia. Myopia, or nearsightedness, is a common vision condition affecting 30 percent of the population. In people with myopia, the eyeball is longer than it should be. When the eyeball is too long, it makes it difficult to see things at a distance, though up close vision is usually unaffected. There is no clear, obvious cause of myopia, though both genes and environment seem to have an effect. Whatever the cause, most people can correct their myopia with glasses.

The other most common type of vision condition is hyperopia, or farsightedness. The best information about glasses is available at the link. Farsightedness, as you've probably guessed, is the opposite of nearsightedness. When a person is farsighted, their eyeballs are shorter than average. Farsighted people can see things at a distance clearly, but have trouble seeing things up close. As with myopia, hyperopia can be corrected with eyeglasses.

Astigmatism is another common vision complaint. Anyone can have an astigmatism, but they are more common in people with other eye problems, like nearsightedness. An astigmatism is caused by a distorted lens or cornea. This causes the light that hits the eye to bend or distort, which causes blurry vision regardless of distance. To read more about the emerging technology of eyeglasses, follow the link. As your eyeballs grow and change as you age, they can develop an astigmatism, though many people with the condition were born with it. People can have astigmatisms in one or both eyes and to varying degrees. Many people have an astigmatism, but the distortion is mild enough not to cause any vision problems. If the astigmatism does cause blurry vision, it can often be corrected with eyeglasses.

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