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Eye Care Archive (Expert Forum)
Myopia?
Our Ask A Doctor Ophthalmology Forum is where you can post your question and receive a personal answer from physicians affiliated with the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Myopia?
by girl522, Mar 23, 2006 12:00AM
I am 21 years old and have always had perfect vision. About 3 years ago when I started college, I was doing A LOT of reading and would sometimes get headaches or my eyed would hurt. I went to the optometrist to get them checked out and was told I had 20/20 vision but she would give me some glasses for reading so I didn't mess up my eyes. Well, I have been using them but not consistently. I believe the prescription was for .5 or something small. Now, I'm noticing the past few months that I'm having trouble in class reading the board, reading the clock or things from across the room. I can still see them but they are getting blurry. I am going to get my eyes checked again soon but I am just wondering if maybe wearing the glasses could have messed up my eyes. I remember reading some study a year ago in one of my classes where the researchers used baby chicks and put lenses on their eyes to make them hyperopic or myopic (don't rememeber) and after a week or two their eyes had either lengthened or shortened. Just wondering if this could have happened to me. Also I am not having major problems just every now and then a little difficult reading things from far away. Would you suggest going to the dr. now or waiting to see if it gets any worse? Thanks in advance for any advice.
Doctor's Answer
by Forum-OD-MP, Mar 23, 2006 12:00AM
no, the glasses definitely did not mess up your eyes. *COLLEGE* is messing up your eyes. "accommodative spasm" or "pseudomyopia" is likely what you are experiencing. google those terms. this is EXCEEDINGLY common. i practice in the town of a rather large college (50,000 students) and i see this literally every day. its not the glasses. its your reading stress and amount of reading/studying. in fact, your doctor pretty much did all she could to prevent your problems. she did the right thing.
no, your eye did not lengthen or shorten. that experiment would work on an infant (hence the "chicks" in the study), but not an adult who's already developed.
this is certainly not dangerous, so waiting IMO is not out of the question...
no, your eye did not lengthen or shorten. that experiment would work on an infant (hence the "chicks" in the study), but not an adult who's already developed.
this is certainly not dangerous, so waiting IMO is not out of the question...
