Understanding Myopia: Causes, Symptoms, and Management

What is it?

Myopia, also known as near or short sightedness, is a condition that causes distant objects to look blurry while close objects appear normal. This is actually the most common eye problem worldwide. Risk factors include family history of myopia, work that involves long periods of focusing on near objects, high socio-economic class, little outdoor times and more. Severe myopia is associated with retinal detachment, cataracts, and glaucoma.

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Additional names

This group contains additional names:
- Near-Sightedness
- Myopia

Signs & symptoms

Other than blurry vision when looking at distant objects, myopia may cause eye strain and headaches.

Diagnosis

Your ophthalmologist can easily diagnose myopia using a simple eye exam.

Treatment

Myopia can be treated by eyeglasses, contact lenses or refractive surgery. Correction may only be needed for some daily activities such as driving.
Refractive surgery is a permanent treatment that reshapes your cornea in order to enable the light to reach the exact location in the retina for optimal interpretation of the picture.

☝️ This is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult with your physician before making any medical decision.

Learn more about our editorial process for content accuracy.

Source of Information - We analyze big data of more than 23 million patients de-identified medical records from the following sources:

National Institution of Health ∙ World Health Organization ∙ University of Illinois hospital