Eyes: Vision Correction and "How Do You See?"

How You See (A Short Lesson in a Paragraph)

Everything you look at is constantly reflecting rays of light. The rays enter your eyes and fall on the lining at the back of your eye, which is called the retina. Your retina contains receptors cells that are stimulated by the light. (The retina is like the film in a camera.) They send impulses to your brain, which interprets them so you can see. Kinda cool, isn't it?

Eyes are indeed cool, but often need correction.

All healthy eyes will change naturally and predictably with the passage of time. If the visual status of an eye changes, it does not indicate deterioration. If your eyes are healthy and clear, your eyesight can be restored to its original level simply by making a change in your eye prescription. Your new visual correction will assist your eyes so that they can function at their maximum level of comfort and clarity.

Myopia (my-O-pee-ah) or Nearsightedness

Myopia is caused by an eye that is naturally too strong in refractive power, and/or an eye that is deeper or larger in size than average. Since the nearsighted eye requires less power to see clearly, the eyes' natural focusing ability cannot help correct this condition. Nearsightedness can be easily corrected with prescription eyewear and/or contact lenses that make the rays of light diverge (bend outward) before they enter the eyes.

The progression of myopia is due to genetic and functional factors. Just as your eye color is inherited, so too may be your amount of myopia. This "genetic" cause of myopia will usually progress until you are about 18 years of age, remain fairly stable in your 20s and 30s and generally decrease beyond your 40s. "Functional" myopia, however, can develop and contribute to nearsightedness at any age, as a stress response to close-range tasks like reading, writing and computer use.

Hypermetropia (hi-per-me-TRO-pee-ah) or Farsightedness; also known as Hyperopia

Farsighted people usually have short eyeballs, and the image of close objects falls behind the retina. This can be corrected by wearing prescription eyewear and/or contact lenses, which make the rays of light converge (bend inward) before they enter the eye. This condition may also be genetic in nature.

Astigmatism (a-STIG-ma-tizm)

An astigmatism is caused by an irregularity of the lens or cornea in the eye. It may also be inherited. This condition causes images to be out of focus and produces slightly distorted vision. It is easily rectified via corrective lenses, and now even contact lenses.


Presbyopia (prez-bee-O-pee-ah)

Presbyopia is the inability to focus on objects nearby due to the loss of elasticity of the lens that occurs with age. This unavoidable decline in close-range focusing ability occurs gradually and predictably throughout our lifetime. This condition usually begins in the mid-40s and is why people who never wore glasses often need reading glasses. So you can now tell Mom or Dad that their new reading glasses are a normal part of aging. They will appreciate that!

Did You Know?

Eyes are the most complex organs you possess except for your brain.

Eyes are composed of more than 2 million working parts.

Eyes can process 36,000 bits of information every hour.

Eyes can under the right conditions discern the light of a candle at a distance of 14 miles.

Eyes contribute toward 85 percent of your total knowledge.

Eyes utilize 65 percent of all the pathways to the brain.

Eyes can instantaneously set in motion hundreds of muscles and organs in your body.

Eyes, in a normal lifespan, will bring you almost 24 million images of the world around you.

The external muscles that move the eyes are the strongest muscles in the human body for the job that they have to do. They are 100 times more powerful than they need to be.

The adult eyeball measures about 1 inch (2.5 cm) in diameter. Of its total surface area, only 1/6 is exposed--the front portion.

The eye is the only part of the human body that can function at 100 percent ability at any moment, day or night, without rest. Your eyelids need rest, the external muscles of your eyes need rest, the lubrication of your eyes requires replenishment, but your eyes themselves never need rest. But please rest them anyway!

Eyes are your most precious sense organ ... care for them properly!