Glasses are not to blame for these things!

Author: Liu Liu, Fudan University Affiliated Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital

Reviewer: Sun Ling, deputy chief physician, Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital, Fudan University

"They said that once you put on glasses, you can't take them off. Can I not wear them?"

“They say the more you wear glasses, the stronger their prescription becomes”

"They say that wearing glasses for a long time will make your eyes bulge outward and make your eyes ugly."

"They say that you don't need to wear glasses for mild myopia, as the degree will gradually fade away."

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These "they say" are what doctors often hear from myopic patients during outpatient consultations. However, should glasses really be blamed for making eyes uglier, increasing myopia, and preventing myopia from receding? In fact, many myopic patients have misunderstandings and unscientific understandings about wearing myopic glasses to correct their vision. So, what is the culprit of these "glasses faults"?

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Misconception 1: Wearing glasses causes myopia to increase continuously.

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When many people were young, they often heard their parents say: "Don't wear glasses. The degree will get higher and higher after wearing them!" However, this statement is unscientific. Whether teenagers or adults, as long as they are diagnosed with myopia and have unclear vision, they should wear glasses. Wearing suitable glasses with accurate degrees will not increase the degree, but will help control myopia and eye health. Because if we can't see clearly, our eyes will not be able to get clear visual signal stimulation, and the ciliary muscles responsible for adjustment in the eyes may work overtime, resulting in a decline in the adjustment function and convergence function of the eyes, causing visual fatigue, strabismus and even amblyopia. Moreover, human senses do not exist independently. Sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste transmit information to our brain in combination, so that we have a holistic understanding of a thing. If we are myopic and can't see clearly, then our brain will allocate more attention to deal with visual problems, and less attention will be allocated to other perceptual abilities. This is why many myopic patients feel that they can't hear others clearly when they don't wear glasses.

Misconception 2: You don’t need to wear glasses for mild myopia, as the degree of myopia will gradually fade away.

First of all, myopia is irreversible. Wearing glasses and corrective surgery can only correct the degree of myopia. The state of the eyeball that has undergone myopia changes cannot be changed, so the progression of myopia can only be controlled and delayed, and it cannot be cured. For myopia that has already occurred, even if it is mild myopia below 300 degrees, the degree will not disappear naturally, but adults can choose the time to wear glasses according to their eye needs and habits. For example, wear glasses when driving, attending classes, etc. when you need to use your eyes at a long distance, but you don’t need to wear them when you use your eyes at close range, such as reading, looking at a mobile phone, etc. For moderate and high myopia, it is recommended to wear glasses frequently regardless of whether you are looking at a distance or near.

Myth 3: Wearing glasses will make your eyes bulge and uglier.

For most myopia patients, the eye axis grows, which is axial myopia. The normal length of an adult's eye axis is about 24 mm. For every 300 degrees of myopia, the eye axis will grow by about 1 mm. Therefore, the higher the degree, the longer the anterior-posterior diameter of the eyeball. This causes some patients with high myopia to have eyeballs that look a little convex. Therefore, the bulging of the eyeball is not caused by glasses, but by myopia itself.

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Therefore, there is no need to be afraid of wearing glasses. No matter children, teenagers or adults, once myopia is discovered, it is recommended to go to a professional medical institution for an optometry examination and wear glasses under the guidance of a doctor. After wearing glasses, you still need to pay attention to eye hygiene and follow the 20-20-20 rule, that is, use your eyes at close range for 20 minutes, and look at a place 20 feet (about 6 meters) away for at least 20 seconds to relax your eyes and avoid visual fatigue, while reducing the risk of further myopia and related complications.