National Eye Care Day | Dialogue with Tao Yong, please check out these eye care tips →

June 6 is National Eye Care Day. With the rapid development of the Internet, the popularity of electronic products has greatly increased, and the myopia rate among children and adolescents in my country has also been rising year by year. The latest research report of the World Health Organization stated that there are currently 600 million myopia patients in China, almost half of the total population of China. In addition, due to the impact of the epidemic, outdoor activities have decreased, online learning and working time have increased, and visual fatigue and other phenomena have occurred from time to time, so it is urgent to love and protect your eyes.

Today, we will have a conversation with Tao Yong, chief ophthalmologist of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, who will help us understand the factors that induce myopia in adolescents, pseudomyopia and other knowledge, and learn tips on scientific eye use. Let’s learn about these scientific eye knowledge together!

Tao Yong, chief physician of ophthalmology at Beijing Chaoyang Hospital

ask

What are the risk factors for myopia in adolescents?

Tao Yong: There are many factors that induce myopia in adolescents, including genetic factors, bad eye habits, too much close-up use of the eyes, incorrect reading and writing posture, insufficient outdoor activities, and lack of sleep. I hope everyone will pay attention to eye health and strengthen eye protection.

ask

We often hear the term pseudomyopia. What is pseudomyopia?

Tao Yong: Pseudomyopia is a functional myopia caused by excessive use of the eyes and tense accommodation. Simply put, when we look at objects at close range, the ciliary muscles of the eyes tighten, making the lens thicker, so that nearby objects are clearly imaged on the retina. If you look at objects at close range for a long time, the ciliary muscles will contract excessively, and its accommodation function will become abnormal. When you look at objects at a distance, because the ciliary muscles are spasming and cannot relax, and cannot pull the lens to become thinner, it will lead to the phenomenon of unclear vision at a distance. This condition is called pseudomyopia. Pseudomyopia is not myopia in the refractive sense. As long as you pay attention to controlling the length of time you use your eyes at close range, look at distant objects more often, and rest more, you can recover and avoid developing true myopia.

ask

What are some tips for using your eyes scientifically?

Tao Yong: Let me share with you a little trick of “188” here.

1 means: maintain a reading distance of 1 foot.

80 is divided into four 20s, that is: every time you use your eyes at close range for 20 minutes, look into the distance at 20 feet (6 meters) away for 20 seconds. The remaining 20 is to do 10 jumping jacks and 10 hard blinks.

8 means: write 8 "米" characters with your head. This is a trick to relax your glasses, neck and body, especially suitable for students and professionals who need to use their eyes at close range for a long time.

ask

Is doing eye exercises effective in preventing myopia?

Tao Yong: It is effective. Massaging the eyes can relax the eyes and relieve eye fatigue. However, doing eye exercises once or twice a day still cannot offset the damage caused by long-term excessive use of the eyes. In the final analysis, it is still necessary to develop correct eye habits.

I was wondering: Myopia surgery is very popular recently. Will myopia recur after the surgery?

Tao Yong: Myopia surgery is a surgery with very low risks. It can be performed after a detailed preoperative examination and doctor's evaluation. However, the effect of myopia surgery is only to remove the glasses, which is equivalent to installing the glasses inside the eyes. The elongation of the eye axis will not be changed, that is, the nature of myopia will not change. After myopia surgery, you still need to develop correct eye care habits to control the increase of myopia.

Thanks to the Continuing Education Department of Beijing Medical Association

Produced by Beijing Association for Science and Technology Media Center

(Reporter Liu Daheng)