There are three components that determine the eyes' focussing behavior: the cornea, the lens and the length of the eye. The cornea, the clear part of the eye on the front surface, bends 70-80% of the incoming light into the eye. The lens, located inside the eye behind the cornea, is responsible for fine focusing and bends 20-30% of the incoming light. The eye length, from front to back, can also affect where the light focuses.

If the eye is too long, the light focuses in front of the retina causing myopia, if the eye is too short, it causes hyperopia, or far sightedness.

Myopia is rarely linked with headaches or eyestrain, as the eyes are naturally focused for near vision. However, if myopia is combined with astigmatism, one can experience headaches.

In people with low myopia without astigmatism (-3.00 and under) it is recommended that glasses or contacts not be worn when reading or using a computer. This is thought to aid in slowing down the progression of myopia.

There are two schools of thought regarding the progression of myopia. The geneticist school believes that myopia is 100% inherited. The environmentalist school believes myopia is 100% environmentally induced. They feel the use of the eyes for prolonged, repeated periods such as reading or computer use, stretches the eye and causes nearsightedness.

It is our feeling at The Eye Center that both genetic and environmental factors play a role in the presence and progression of myopia.

Myopia tends to be prevalent in people with occupations that demand lots of prolonged near work.
Myopia affects those mostly between the ages of 10 and 40. Beyond 45 years of age myopia tends to decrease.

With high myopia (-6.00 and up) one is at increased risk of glaucoma, retinal detachments and posterior vitreous detachments, so annual follow-up is recommended for those individuals.
Myopia is very common and can be corrected by the use of appliances, such as glasses or contact lenses with a prescription, or by refractive surgery.