According to several sources I have found on the Internet, maybe one in three people have problems with near-sightedness. People who suffer from myopia (near-sightedness) find that they can see objects placed close to them without any difficulty, but they have a real problem seeing objects placed at a distance. Everything looks fuzzy or blurry, getting worse the farther away from the myopic individual they are.

What are the Symptoms of Myopia?

To begin with, things far away are out of focus and blurry for you. But your myopia may not be as bad as someone else’s. Some people are so myopic they are legally blind.

Chronically near-sighted people often have headaches or eye strain and might squint or feel fatigued when driving or playing sports. If you experience these symptoms while wearing your glasses or contact lenses, you may need a comprehensive eye examination as well as a new prescription.

How Do People Become Myopic?

The reason for near-sightedness is that people’s eyes that stretch to far back in their sockets. Basically the light rays hitting the eyes end up being too shortly focused for the retina to pick up a sharp image.

Near-sightedness runs in families and usually appears in childhood. This vision problem may stabilize at a certain point in life, and sometimes it even declines with age. This change in vision is sometimes known as “myopic creep”.

What is the Treatment for Myopia?

Near-sightedness may be corrected with eyeglasses, contact lenses or eye surgery. Depending on your vision job, you may need to wear your eyeglasses or contact lenses all the time or only when you demand distance vision, like driving, seeing a chalkboard or watching a movie. If you’re Myopic, your prescription is a negative number. The larger the number, the stronger your lenses will be.

You cannot treat myopia yourself. You need to see a qualified eye doctor (such as an optometrist or opthamologist) to be properly diagnosed and receive the right prescription for glasses or contact lenses. Surgery may not be an option for all people who have myopia.

Does Myopia Ever Go Away?

Something I learned as I grew older was that people’s eyesight may change over time. Many people who develop myopia early in life may experience improvement in their distance vision as they grow older.

This is not something to count on. The ciliary muscle may relax for some people with myopia when they reach their 40s, but experts say any improvement is mild.

Some people promise natural cures for myopia. These are unscientific methods and may not be reliable treatments for myopic conditions.