Myopia

What is Myopia?

Short-sightedness, or myopia, is a vision problem resulting from excessively long growth of the eye-ball, or a steeply curved cornea. Myopia up to 3.0 dioptres (D) is termed mild degree, 3.0 to 6.0D is moderate degree and high degree is 6.0D and over. A dioptre is a measurement of the focusing power of a lens.

Most commonly, myopia will stabilize when the growth process has been completed and will result in normal sight after correction with glasses, for example.

High degree myopia (sometimes known as pathological myopia or degenerative myopia) is a chronic, degenerative condition which can create problems because of its association with degenerative changes at the back of the eye.

What are the causes of Myopia?

Same known causes of myopia are-

Pathological myopia.
Congenital stationary night blindness.
Keratoconus.
Cystathionine beta-synthase deficiency.
Muscle-eye-brain disease.
Donnai-Barrow syndrome.
Pseudoxanthoma elasticum recessive type 1.

What are the symptoms of Myopia?

Symptoms of myopia are-

Blurred vision of distant objects.
Squinting or fatigue while driving.
Eyestrain.
Headaches.
Cannot see properly while playing sports.

What treatment can be done for Myopia?

Myopia may be corrected with glasses , contact lenses or refractive surgery . Depending on your vision problem, you may need to wear your glasses or contact lenses all the time, or only when you need distance vision, like driving, seeing a chalkboard or watching a movie. If you're nearsighted, your prescription is a negative number. The higher the numeral, the stronger your lenses will be.

Refractive surgery can reduce or even elimiate your need for glasses or contacts. The most common procedures are performed with an excimer laser. In photorefractive keratectomy , or PRK, the laser removes a layer of corneal tissue, which flattens the cornea and allows light rays to focus closer to or even on the retina. In laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) - the most common refractive procedure - a flap is cut through the top of the cornea, a laser removes some corneal tissue, and then the flap is dropped back into place.