Myopia | Refractive Errors
Myopia is the medical term for nearsightedness. It means that the eye sees distant images as blurred or fuzzy. This may mean that your distance vision may blurry past only a foot or two. Myopia can be corrected with glasses, and contact lenses.
Myopia is caused by light being focused in front of instead of on the retina of the eye. This may occur because your eye is longer than normal or your cornea is steeper than normal. The steeper, or more curved your cornea, the cornea, the greater the focusing power.
It is generally believed that there is a genetic predisposition to myopia. The condition may begin anytime from early childhood until the late teens and it often progresses during childhood and in the early twenties. It usually stabilizes in the early twenties. Patients with mild myopia often first complain of night driving difficulties. Dr. Cindy Wang and I at the Eye Surgery Institute can treat myopia with glasses, contact lenses or refractive surgery such as lasik and epi-lasik. If you need cataract surgery, we can address your myopia to make you less dependent on glasses after cataract surgery.
Hyperopia (Farsightedness)
Hyperopia, or farsightedness, is a condition that causes a point in space to focus behind the retina. If you are farsighted, you often need corrective lenses for both distance and near vision.
Hyperopia is caused when the eye is too short from front to back, or when there is a weakness in the focusing power of the lens or cornea. The focal point of parallel lines in a farsighted person is behind the retina.
Hyperopia tends to run in families, and it can get worse with age. Dr. Cindy Wang and I can treat hyperopia with glasses, contact lenses, lasik or epi-lasik. If you need cataract surgery, we can address your hyperopia to make you less dependent on glasses after cataract surgery.
Astigmatism
Astigmatism can be described as the eye being shaped more like an egg or football instead of an orange or basketball. This causes your vision be be blurry and distorted.
Astigmatism is caused by an uneven curvature of the cornea. It results when one axis is stronger than the other, causing a blurring on the retina. In other words, one axis focuses differently than the other.
A person can have a little or a lot of astigmatism. Sometimes it occurs in conjunction with nearsightedness or farsightedness. Astigmatism may change with age. We can treat astigmatism with glasses, contacts lenses, lasik or epi-lasik. If you need cataract surgery, I can address your astigmatism at the time of surgery with a special toric intraocular implant.
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