What is Myopia?

Myopia or Nearsightedness is an eye defect that is prevalent in many adult subjects. While it is not usually considered as abnormal, myopia develops in certain abnormal situations. It is not a serious defect as it is easily correctable by merely wearing a spectacle fitted with proper type of lens and of the correct power. The reason is that the genetic mechanism of eye is unable to focus the incident rays (especially from the objects at far) exactly on the retina. They get focused well before the retina and only a umbra cone of the rays fall on the retina resulting a blurred image.

Myopia is defined as: The Shortsightedness which is the defect in an eye due to which the eye can clearly see only the closer objects. The objects at a distance will not be clear and with this defect an eye will not be able to read letters which are a little far. The Causes of Myopia are: 1. The Natural cause for someone to have the defect of myopia is hereditary. If any of the parents have this defect, then there is every chance that the child will have the same defect when reaching the stage of adolescent. 2. The other causes are the change in shape of eye ball for any reason, natural or accidental, causes the light rays to converge before the retina. Premature births and eye diseases at childhood tend to develop the defect of myopia at adult stage. 3. The worst reason that is not noticeable is unnoticed and uncontrolled diabetes. Accidents and uncared cataract growths also might lead to myopia.

Symptoms of Myopia (Gejala Miopi) The Symptoms of Myopia as mentioned earlier really help people. As soon one gets any of the Myopia Symptoms, the person should immediately go for eye check. In many cases it is seen that myopia is kept under control and even cured in course of time if proper action is taken when myopic symptoms are noticed. Following are the Symptoms of Myopia:

1. One of the easily noticeable Myopia Symptoms is difficulty in reading letters at a reasonable distance. 2. Other symptoms of myopia include the strange head ache which develops due to the strain on eyes which are forced to over work with the convergence mechanism, pictures on a theater screen or on a TV screen not clear etc.

Treatment for Myopia

Myopia can be treated in a number of ways. In the modern times it is possible to correct the myopic defect by laser surgery. But still many people do not opt for it. People prefer to easily get away by using spectacles fitted with concave lens of required power. The following diagram explains how myopia is corrected by a concave lens.

Figure (i) shows the eye is not able to focus the rays on the retina due to over refraction. Figure (ii), the use of concave lens to overcome the defect is explained. The rays are diverged by the concave lens to the extent required with which the eye lens can correctly focus the rays on the retina. This is because the property of concave lens is that diverges the rays fall on that. The power of correcting lenses is expressed in Diopters. Diopter is nothing but the reciprocal of focal length in meter. Conventionally the focal length of a concave lens is expressed as negative and hence the power of lenses required for correction is expressed in negative. A prescription suggesting a power of -2 means the person requires a concave lens for correction which has a focal length of 1/2 meter.

There are many other ways that can prevent occurrence of myopia at least in early stages. These tips may look simple but they are very important. 1. Maintaining proper distance while reading. 2. Avoid reading under insufficient light 3. Avoid reading under sick conditions is very important. Even highly literate persons think that one can be engaged and kept occupied during the convalescent conditions. 4. But it is important to note that under such conditions eyes are also in a weaker state and reading under that situation only strains the eyes further. 5. Avoid watching TV or any other screen projections at a close distance. 6. Eat food items that are nutritious for eyes. 7. Regular eye checkups.

The required power of the correcting lens that helps to correct myopia may be calculated by using the approximate formula for the focal length of combined lenses, 1/f = 1/f1 + 1/f2.

Here f is the effective focal length and f1, f2 are respectively the focal lengths of lens required and the focal length of human eye. The focal length of the normal eye is found to be about 17 mm. Suppose a person suffers of myopia due to a reduced focal length of 16.7 mm because of change in shape of the eye ball. Let us try to calculate the power of the lens he requires. By plugging in f = 17mm and f2 = 16.7 mm, 1/17 = 1/f1 + 1/1.67

Which gives f1 as -946 mm, which can be taken approximately as -1000 m which is a power of 1 diopter and since the answer is negative, the type of lens required is Concave. Hypermetropia, also called Hyperopia, is a defect in an eye due to which the eye can see clearly only the farsighted objects. The nearby objects will not be clear and with this defect will not be able to read letters which are close by. At an advanced level of hypermetropia one may not be able to clearly see the objects even at a few feet away. Let us study how Hyperopic persons are easily treated by use of a convex lens. Look at the following diagram.

Figure (i) shows the eye is not able to focus the rays on the retina due to insufficient refraction. In figure (ii), the use of convex lens to overcome the defect is explained. The rays are converged by the convex lens to the extent required with which the eye lens can correctly focus the rays on the retina. This is because the property of convex lens is that converges the rays fall on that. Let us see how practically is this done and how the power of the convex lens is calculated for correcting the Hypermetropia.

The defect occurs due to change of shape of the eye ball because of various reasons. The focal length of the lens of a normal human eye is about 17 mm. But the change in shape sometimes increases the focal length of the eye lens. This results in formation of the image beyond the retina. Hence a convex lens is required to be placed in front of the eye. The combined focal length of eye lens and the convex lens of correct power equals the required focal length to focus the image on the retina. The approximate formula for combined focal length f of two lenses side by side is,

In practice, the power of the lens to correct the hypermetropia is not figured out by this method. The reasons are simple. You do not measure the actual and ideal focal lengths of the eye of a person. Hence what is done is, the person is made to view an object (usually words) at a certain distance. Lenses of different powers are tried one by one and the right power is chosen when the person is able to read the words clearly. A child which can spot a ball at a distance easily but unable to catch that is sure to have Hypermetropia. Because, when the ball gets closer and closer, the vision of the ball gets more and more blurred. Similarly, a child spills food while eating may have developed Hypermetropia. When such symptoms are noticed with the children, the parents must immediately go for a optical check. In many cases, small babies may be having Hypermetropia because of small eyes. But over a period of time, during their growth, the defect gets settled by itself. This is also the reasons why ophthalmologists leave mild Hypermetropia untreated in case of small children. Rather they prefer healthier methods to improve the eye power by administration of necessary vitamins and nutrition supplement medicines.