Eye Condition Focus: Myopia

Each month, LaserVision highlight a different eye condition with the aim of raising awareness of the symptoms while providing information on the cause and possible treatments available at LaserVision.

What is Myopia?

Myopia is the technical term for short sightedness, meaning you will have difficulty seeing distant objects clearly and reading road signs, but will have no problem with reading books or seeing items close-up. Myopia is the most common refractive error of eye.

Symptoms:

Patients with Myopia will be able to see objects at close range, but distant and even mid range objects would be blurred. If uncorrected, you may experience symptoms including headaches, find yourself squinting and/or feeling fatigued when or after driving or when playing sports.

Cause:

Myopia is caused when the image in front of you does not reach the retina and actually falls short of it (or in front of it). This happens when the eye is too long for the refractive and focusing power of the cornea and the lens. Light rays bend more than they should, so they focus in front of the retina. It can also be caused by the lens and/or cornea being too curved for the length of the eyeball.

Diagnosis:

If you are experiencing any of the above symptoms, please make an appointment with your optician for a thorough eye examination where a diagnosis will be made if necessary. If Myopia is confirmed, the optician’s prescriptions will show a minus sign before the number called ‘Sphere’ (eg -2.00D). The larger the number, the more shortsighted the eye and the further in front of the retina the image will fall.

Treatment:

Myopia is one of the most common refractive errors and can have a significant impact on daily life. Glasses or contact lenses can be prescribed to correct this error, however if you would like a permanent solution, LaserVision offer many laser vision correction treatments to suit you and your eyes.

Such treatment include LASIK, LASEK, PRK, RLE and our most recently introduced, and most advanced treatment ReLEx which has the ability to treat high prescriptions & thin corneas, which were not previously treatable.

Each of the above solutions is an effective way of treating myopia but the treatment has to be personalised to achieve the best results for you and your eyes. Your LaserVision consultant surgeon can expertly guide you through the best treatments for you.

If you would like to talk to us about potential treatment options to correct your myopia, please call us on 03 333 555 777 or book your consultation with us online.