Myths about Eyeglasses

1.     Eyeglasses cause vision to get worse over time: FALSE

Wearing eyeglasses will never cause your eyesight to get worse; they are simply an aid to improve vision. People who easily see reading material without glasses may find they cannot do so as they age – usually near vision starts to deteriorate around the age of 40. As these aging individuals begin to need stronger prescriptions some assume wearing glasses made their eyes worse. In reality, they are probably just experiencing presbyopia, which is the inability to focus on near objects due to the aging of the eye.

Another cause of this myth could be that many people live with incorrect vision for years before they get glasses. After they finally get glasses and can see clearly, some claim their vision is worse because they can no longer see without glasses. Doctors say this is usually a patient who learns to appreciate good vision, and thus more easily recognizes the obvious difference between correct vision and something worse.

Bottom line, wearing glass to correct refractive error does not weaken eyesight

2.If you wear glasses, not wearing them will cause your vision to deteriorate faster: FALSE

If you need glasses, the side effect of not wearing them is the equivalent of an art show: everything will be out of focus and will look an impressionist painting. Trying to focus without glasses will not hurt your eyes, but it can lead to eye strain or excessive squinting, which could cause unpleasant symptoms such as headaches.

The primary side effect of not wearing glasses is temporary and at most will cause you to be uncomfortable.

 3. Wearing glasses makes your eyes stronger: FALSE

Wearing glasses makes your vision clear, but does not have any impact on your actual prescription. Your prescription will change the same amount whether you wear glasses every day or not.

4.   Plus power is more dangerous than minus power: FALSE

Hypermetropia (plus power) and myopia (minus power) are two types of refractive error. Normally the light rays must focus on the retina for the optimal vision. Plus power simply means that the light rays tends to focus behind the retina and we use convex lens(plus lens) to correct it. Similarly minus power means light rays are focusing in front of the retina and we use concave lens(minus lens)to correct it.