What is Nearsightedness?

• Nearsightedness is a condition where a person can see things that are close to them, but the farther away an object is, the harder it is to see it. The range of vision varies from person to person. Scientifically, this condition is called myopia. Don't confuse it with farsightedness. While this may sound like you cannot see far away, it's actually the opposite. Farsighted people can see far away, but not up close. Nearsighted people can't see far away. This condition makes it difficult to see the board in school, to read signs when driving, or even to recognize someone across a crowded room.
  
  

What Causes Nearsightedness?

• A normal eye takes the picture, the light and input the eye is receiving, and focuses it on the retina so the brain can interpret what you're seeing. But those of us who are nearsighted have a slightly elongated eye, which means the picture doesn't get focused on the right spot of the retina. Things close to you aren't affected as much, but those that are farther away become increasingly blurrier. Your brain can't make sense of the picture because it's not aligned where it should be. Thus, you see the world as being fuzzy and distorted.
  
  

How Do Glasses Fix This Condition?

• The lenses in your glasses, or your contact lenses, change the light and curve so that the image will fall shorter or farther away than it does currently. So whatever your eye needs, it will be adjusted to fall onto your retina instead of away from it. Once the image hits the retina properly, your brain can interpret it and the blurriness goes away. This is why when you take your glasses off things are fuzzy again. It does not change the shape of your eye, rather it changes the way the image is reflected so that your eye sees it the way it was meant to. There are some other ways to fix this problem, such as eye exercises or laser surgery, but so far glasses are still the most highly used method to correct vision problems both far and near.