A Question Regarding The Need For Glasses

Dear All,

I hope you can help me with something that's been nagging me for a week now:

I am 24 years old and have never worn glasses in my life.
I recently discovered that the image in my left eye is imperfect at a
distance.
To give you exact figures I am able to read 12 point text at 2 metres
perfectly with
my right eye but not with my left. At 1 metre the text in my left eye looks
slightly 'clipped'.
At 50 cm its all fine.

I only discovered this by accident (I covered up my right eye to pretend to
be captain hook
for my 2 year nephew). I have never suffered headaches, nausea, or even
been alerted to this
in any way and am confident it would have gone unoticed if it weren't the
chance eye coverup.

The questions I wish to ask are:

1) I gather this is myopia. Am I in need of glasses? Should I get my eyes
checked or could it be something else?
2) If indeed it is myopia is there any way I can try and improve it
naturally before resorting to glasses?
3) I am a CompSci grad student so you can imagine my life consists of
looking at screens a mjority of the
time. Is it true VDUs can weaken eyesight? If so what steps can I take to
avoid this?

I really would like to avoid glasses or contacts but I have a feeling I
might be clutching at straws!

Thanks for your help

 

Get your eyes checked. It is either a situation which can be corrected by
lenses, or it is a medical problem that needs prompt attention. Make sure
you get all the extended tests performed by the optometrist. Should cost
about $85. Don't ignore it.

If there is nothing wrong with your eyes other than you need glasses, your
optometrist will give you an Rx (tell them you will come back later for
glasses but don't have time now). They are required by law to give you a
written Rx even if you don't get it filled there. Don't leave the office
without a written Rx (if applicable).

Then you can deal with your phobia about glasses later, knowing what the
problem is.

 

Most likely myopia, but you should have an eye exam to confirm. Have you
ever had an eye exam? You may have been like this for years.

At your age, progression is possible but much less likely than if you were
10 years younger. There is no evidence that exercises, devices, supplements
etc can reverse myopia. Nor is there any reason to think that computer use
caused it -- for one thing, if it did, you would expect both eyes to be
affected.

As to glasses or contacts, if you are currently having no discomfort and
noticing no blur when viewing with both eyes, there is no need to correct
myopia in one eye.

Dr Judy

 

Most likely myopia, but you should have an eye exam to confirm. Have you

Hello,

Thank you all for your answers.
I got my last eye exam at age 22 where my vision was declared perfect.
Since then I've not had an exam.

All this has got me thinking and appreciating how important eyesight is!
I have done some research on the Internet but there doesn't seem to be much
on how to treat your eyes well - i.e. to minimise chances of things going
wrong. The things I did learn are 1) when doing close work keep a minimum
distance of 30-50cm. 2) Every 30 mins or so look at a distant point.

Are there a set of heuristics I could use to try and be gentle on my eyes?

thanks again for your help.

 

My opinion is that whether or not you develop refractive error is
genetically determined, with perhaps a very small environmental component.
There is no good scientific evidence that refractive error can be prevented
or reversed; if anyone claims to have a system, do not pay money for the
information and do ask for copies of published, peer reviewed, placebo
controlled, double blind studies to back the claims.

Dr Judy

 

Obviously not.

It is not myopia, and you can cure yourself very quickly if you don't
use glasses.

It is true you can weaken your eyes but not because of screens but
because you are staring at them. Learn how not to stare and you will
soon find that the computer is a good game to play with.

Don't worry, if you learn how to de-concentrate while using your eyes,
you will get a cure very quickly.

Write to me privately.

Please visit http://TheCentralFixation.com

 

Typical myopia starts at childhood due to exessive nearwork at school.

At your age, 24 (2 years after perfect vision at age 22)
great part of your myopia might be pseudomyopia because
of exessive nearwork at university
(math and cs books, paperwork and computer work).

I can give you several good links, I also advice you to
consult with authorized optometrists who are specialists
in nearwork problems (myopia, binocular vision and more nearwork problems
treated _together_).

amni

 

There is no evidence that myopia is due to excessive near work. Available
evidence strongly suggests a mostly genetic cause with a very small near
work component

This person may have myopia in one eye only (remember, we are just
speculating, he hasn't had an eye exam to find out what is wrong with the
eye). If near work caused the problem, shouldn't it be in both eyes?

Dr Judy

 

This does not seem right at all!

This either does not seems right also, because many other people do
this and get no myopia, or get hyperopia or other problems.

Please, this is a scientific newsgroup, you should be more correct in
your statements.

So that they can prescribe glasses and destroy the sight of this poor
fellow.


Please, poor fellow, don't follow this stupid advice.

Don't go to the doctors.

They are just criminals that destroy your sight instead of teaching
you how to cure yourself, and in so doing, they secure a client for
their ugly business.

doctors are great criminals, they should be banned from the world's
face.

 

I don't agree about that statment. As far as I know for most people
genetics is responsible only for _vunarability_ to myopia,
the _level_ of myopia depends on how much one is exposed to exessive
nearwork.

In my heading I said "if it's myopia" and I meant that first RS
should be examined by OD to see if he has other vision problems.

From my personal experience my right eye,
which is my dominant eye was always more myopic than my left eye
by 0.5D to 1D. My left eye almost doesn't participate in reading,
my left eye serves me mainly for long distance vision.

amni

 

Do you claim that "Singapore national eye center" are not real
scientists ? See their opinion about myopia as stated in this link
http://www.snec.com.sg/ecp/childhood_myopia.asp

Better read about the so called "singapore educational reform"
which brought them to first place in the world in math study among
12 years pupils. The kids there work much harder in school
then in most schools in the western countries.
And reading chinese fonts is much much harder then reading
western fonts (my speculation is that reading chinese or japanese
is possible only when your eyes are at 30cm close to the book).

Check carefully the figures: myopia in singapore among 18 year ages is
80 percents, myopia in USA among oriental imigrants 17 years old is
18 percent. I don't think that when orienal imigrate to USA
they undergo a strong genetic mutation which cuts to quarter
their myopia; there are better explanations.

I have additional data about certain comunities in israel in which
myopia is above 75 percents (at least double than the average percentage
of myopia here).
Their genetics is not different than the genetics of other communities
here. Since they read and write at least 50 hour a week
this is the only reasonable explantion for their myopia.

I don't believe that this data was published in any scientific research,
so what ? Not everything which true is published in scientific papers.

 

Dear Amni,

A difference of about 1/2 diopter between the eyes is
very common, and at 1-sigma, must be considered normal.
(Primate eye refractive distributions.)

There is a MAJOR advantage to having 20/20
in one eye ans 20/40 in the other.
(0.0 diopters and -1.2 diopters.)

As you get older, you will be able to have
clear vision for both near and far -- well
into your 60s.

It is an ill wind that does not blow some good!

Best,

Otis
Engineer

 

I'll be sure to tell my wife this. She'll be very happy to hear about
this. Her one eye was measured at 20/40 by the DMV and 20/50 by her OD.
However, I don't understand the optics behind your statement. Her
prescription is +1.0 for distance and an add of +2.0. How is having 20/40
or 20/50 vision going to help her see both near and far? She is 54 and
has major presbyopia.

 

My guess: 80 percent includes pseumyopia which will partially disappear
after these young people leave school.

Individual case cannot be counted as evidence (only mass cases).
Genetically I shouldn't be myopic even not slightly.
Nobody in my familly including 2 generation back was myopic,
my father was probably strong hyperyopic my mother probably
slight hyperyopic my brother has exellent vision ---
still I don't count myself because individual case
cannot be counted.

These are not "closed communities" these are sort of
"profession comunities", no genetic factor is involved.

 

Dear RS,

I have some suggestions.

Download an eye chart (for free) from www.i-see.org.
Then report to us the line you can read with:

1. Both eyes.
2. Each eye separately.

It is always good if you personally make these
measurements. Because if you work to "improve"
your vision you can see the results develop
under your own control.

You also might make a personal assessment
of the relative value of naked-eye distant
vision in your life. How important is
it to you? If you wish "prevention" what
type of effort and commitment are you prepared
to make? How much control do you wish
to exert over this situation?

It would be wise to consider these question
before going any further. Pilots have
helped themselves on the prevention
issue by using methods I suggest
on my site (again, for free).

www.myopiafree.com

To further evaluate your questions:

Otis> Please use an eye chart for consistency.
As a rough check, please verify that you can read
1.8 cm letters at 6 meters. See if you can
read 4 our of 5 of these letters at 6 meters.
This is a "first step".


At 1 metre the text in my left eye looks

Otis> Please use the standard distance of
20 feet or 6 meters. (Checking near vision
is a separate issue.)

Otis> It is excellent that you checked this issue yourself.

Otis> You should check with an ophthalmologist (to look for
diseased conditions of the retina). If he tells you that
you have a diseased "condition" please let us know.

Otis> This depends critically on what you mean by "natrually".
Do you mean the natural process where the eye controls it
refractive status to its visual enviroment -- or something
else?

Otis> Welcome to the 21st century. I am surprised you
avoided a negative refractive status for this long!

Is it true VDUs can weaken eyesight?

Otis> It is true that the refractive status of the
natural eye "moves negative" when you place it
in a "more confined" visual enviroment. This
is indeed a natural-process.

Otis> Get your eyes "out of" that confined enviroment,
that you have been working in.

Otis> Not exactly. You may face a engineering trade-off
where you use a "plus" for all your computer work
and other reading. In this way you can clear your
distant vision under your own personal control.

Always pleased to offer assistance.

Best,

Otis
Engineer

 

About six weeks ago, a woman whom I had known through her kids, came to me
with a visual complaint. I had not examined her before. She said that
while she was sitting having a cup of coffee, she happened to cover one eye
and noted a disturbance in her vision our of her left eye. Indeed, her
visual acuity measured 20/200 out of that eye. During the refraction, her
right eye came out to be emmetropic, i.e. no prescription, while her left
eye was hyperopic with astigmatism. She was correctable to 20/25 in the
left eye. At this point I considered that she had probably been this way
all of her life, but that her strongly dominant right eye precluded her
from ever noticing the problem with the weak left eye. Anyway, this
explanation seemed plausible for the moment, that is until I looked into
her eye with an ophthalmoscope, whereupon I noted some grayish
discoloration in the area of the macula. I proceeded to dilate her eyes
and did another examination with a wide field lens. The grayish area
happened to be part of a moderate-sized choroidal melanoma, the border of
which extended into the macula. The elevation of the tumor had pushed the
macula slightly forward, causing the hyperopia.

Now, a choroidal melanoma has an incidence of about 1/150,000 or less.
Nevertheless, I cannot emphasize enough the wisdom in having a professional
eye examination that includes a dilated fundus examination. Morevoer, do
not listen to those who would advise you to download an eye chart from some
website and to treat yourself with plus lenses as they do not know what
they are talking about.

DrG

 

That is indeed some of the most foolish advice I have ever read. See my
post to "rs." This person needs to go straight to an eye doctor(OD or MD)
and have a thorough examination.


DrG

(Otis Brown) wrote in

 

Dear Rs,

Indeed both Dr. L, and I suggested the same thing -- that
your eyes have a MEDICAL exam. (Please read what I stated.)

Once it is determined that your have a negative refractive
state of say, -1/2 diopter, you should have a choice.

Keep an open mind. Read www.chinamyopia.org for the
second-opinion about prevention with at plus.

This is a "hot" subject, and Dr. L's commentary suggests
how "hot" it really is.

Best,

Otis
Engineer

 

Otis, you have done a great disservice to this individual by suggesting
that he decide for himself whether he needs a medical examination. I
oberved that you indeed inserted a "disclaimer," but nevertheless I feel
that personal injury could indeed the result of your advice.

DrG

(Otis Brown) wrote in

 

Dear Dr. L, (OD)

You do not seem to read (or understand) what I stated.

I suggested that he have a medical exam, checking
for MEDICAL ISSUES like glaucoma, rp, and other
such things.

After, repeat AFTER, that, when these things
have been ellimated, THEN he should consider
alternative such as PREVENTION conducted
by the physicist, Dr. Stirling Colgate.

RS is a mature adult. You wish to treat
him like a child. Sorry, I object to
that attitude ... and I think RS should
also.

He asked for ALL alternatives. He was
offered a discussion.

You seem to want to cut-off his understanding
of these issues, and specifically his
right of decision and choice in these matters.
I do not agree with you on that specific point.

It is always of value to a person to be offered
a discussion of the second-opinion. It is
obvious from your closed mind that he
will never get that from you.

The rest is up to him.

Best,

Otis
Engineer

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