The "dilemma" of mild myopia: Can I not wear glasses? !

Review expert: Peng Guoqiu, deputy chief physician of the Fourth Medical Center of the General Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army

The child was just diagnosed with 50-degree myopia, and the parents were anxious: Should he wear glasses? I believe many people have the same problem. After all, such mild myopia does not affect vision without glasses, but wearing glasses brings many inconveniences. Myopia is not uncommon nowadays. What is myopia? How is it formed? Can mild myopia be treated without glasses?

How does myopia come about?

01What is myopia?

Myopia is a common vision problem. It refers to the situation when the eyes are in a relaxed state and parallel light rays are focused in front of the retina after passing through the eye's refractive system, causing distant objects to be blurred while nearby objects to be relatively clear. Mild myopia usually refers to mild myopia with a degree of less than 300 degrees.

02Pseudomyopia and true myopia

Pseudomyopia is caused by excessive use of the eyes, which leads to continuous contraction and spasm of the ciliary muscle and increased thickness of the lens, resulting in blurred vision. Vision may be restored through proper rest and relaxation of the eyes.

True myopia is caused by organic changes in the eyeball (such as lengthening of the eye axis, increased refractive power of the cornea and lens, etc.), which leads to blurred vision and this change is often irreversible.

03How does myopia develop?

Genetic factors account for part of the reason. If both parents are severely myopic, the child’s chances of developing myopia will greatly increase.

However, nowadays, environmental factors are more likely to play a role. Long-term close-range eye use, poor eye environment (too strong or too dark light), lack of outdoor activities, etc. can all lead to the occurrence and development of myopia.

There are many hidden dangers if you have mild myopia and don’t wear glasses!

After understanding myopia, let's return to the key question - can mild myopia be treated without glasses? The answer cannot be generalized, but not wearing glasses may cause a series of troubles.

0 1

Myopia worsens faster

When people with mild myopia look at things without glasses, their eyes will automatically enter the "trying to see clearly" mode. Every time you use your eyes, the ciliary muscles need to continue to contract to adjust the focus so that the image can fall exactly on the retina to ensure that we can see clearly. However, the ciliary muscles continue to work intensively, which will gradually lengthen the eye axis over time. For every 1mm of eye axis lengthening, myopia usually increases by 250 to 300 degrees, so myopia deepens faster.

02

May cause strabismus problems

Under normal circumstances, when the human eye looks at something close, the eyes will automatically adjust the focus so that the eyes converge inward (that is, the convergence function of the eyes).

For myopic people, the adjustment function of the eyes will decline, and the convergence function will also be affected, making it difficult for the eyes to converge inward, which may cause exotropia or esotropia. If the degree of myopia of both eyes exceeds 100 degrees, the brain will tend to use the eye with better vision and "neglect" the other eye. Over time, this eye may deviate outward.

03

Affects your perception of the world around you

Have you ever experienced that you can't hear other people's speech clearly without wearing glasses? This is because in daily communication, your eyes will follow the other person's lip movements to "interpret" lip reading.

If you don't wear glasses, your eyes won't be able to see clearly, and your brain will need to allocate more attention to processing visual problems, distracting other sensory processing capabilities. Over time, not only will you see things blurry, but it will also affect your judgment of the distance and size of objects, and even lead to dangerous situations such as hitting a telephone pole while walking on the road or misjudging the distance between cars while driving. In addition, unclear vision will slow down the brain's reception of information and make reactions slower.

I have mild myopia. How to decide whether to wear glasses or not?

Of course, it doesn’t mean that you have to wear glasses immediately if you have mild myopia. You need to make a comprehensive judgment based on the specific situation.

0 1Judgment based on eye conditions

If the refractive power of the eyes is between "hyperopia 50 degrees" and "myopia 50 degrees", it is within the normal range and glasses are not needed. If the myopia is below 200 degrees and there is no astigmatism, you can look at objects 3-5 meters away without glasses, but when you need to look at distant objects for a long time (such as blackboards, screens, etc.), it is recommended to wear glasses to avoid visual fatigue. If the myopia exceeds 200 degrees, or there is astigmatism, glasses must be worn regardless of naked eye vision. In special cases, such as patients with amblyopia and strabismus, glasses must be worn even if the degree is low.

02Judging by age

The degree of myopia in adults is generally stable. If mild myopia has little impact on daily life and work, you do not need to wear glasses, but you still need to pay attention to your eye habits and avoid visual fatigue. The eyes of children and adolescents are still in the development stage, and myopia tends to gradually deepen with age. Even if the degree is low, if it has affected their studies, they need to wear glasses in time to prevent myopia from further deepening or causing more serious problems such as amblyopia.

03Judge based on eye needs

If the patient has a high demand for eye use (such as frequent use of computers, mobile phones or reading), even mild myopia may cause visual fatigue or decreased vision, and it is recommended to wear glasses. If the patient has a low demand for eye use (such as mainly doing close-up activities), it is not necessary to wear glasses temporarily, but it is necessary to develop good eye habits and check vision changes regularly.