Does Wearing Glasses Weaken Eyes: Doctor Explains
A common patient question is “Doctor, does wearing glasses make your eyes worse?” The answer is the vast majority of cases – no, it does not.
However, in a small number of cases, specifically in children wearing an incorrect prescription, it could. Let’s take a look.
Does Wearing Eyeglasses Make Your Vision Worse: Adults
A common misconception among adults is that wearing eyeglasses can make your vision worse. Even though there is tons of research and evidence to show that this is not the case. Let’s take a look at the relationship between corrective lenses and eye health.
Refractive Errors And Corrective Lenses
Refractive errors such as myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), and astigmatism are common vision issues that corrective lenses aim to address. These errors occur due to the shape of the eye, which affects how light rays are focused on the retina. Eyeglasses and contact lenses correct these errors by adjusting the focal point, allowing for clearer vision.
Common Misconceptions
The notion that eyeglasses can weaken your eyes stems from observing that vision often changes after getting a new prescription. This change is usually a sign that the previous glasses were no longer providing the correct prescription needed for optimal vision. The natural progression of refractive errors, especially in adulthood, necessitates regular updates to prescription lenses. Therefore, it’s not the glasses causing the vision to worsen, but rather the body’s natural changes over time.
Eye Health And Regular Eye Exams
Maintaining eye health requires regular eye exams with an eye doctor. Comprehensive eye exams can detect vision changes, refractive errors, and eye conditions such as glaucoma and macular degeneration. Early detection through regular eye exams allows for timely intervention, which can prevent or slow the progression of certain eye diseases.
The Role Of Corrective Eyeglasses
Corrective lenses, including reading glasses, prescription eyeglasses, and multifocal contacts, are essential tools for maintaining good vision. They help correct vision problems by ensuring that light rays focus correctly on the retina, providing clear vision. For first-time eyeglass wearers, the adjustment period can be challenging, but it does not mean that their vision is getting worse. Rather, their eyes are adapting to the new, correct prescription.
Eye Muscles And Eye Strain
Eyeglasses do not make the eye muscles weaker. In fact, they can help reduce eye strain and fatigue by providing clear vision, which reduces the effort needed to focus on objects. Eye exercises may help to increase strength of the eye muscles (but evidence here is limited), but wearing glasses does not diminish these efforts.
Age-Related Changes And Vision Loss
As we age, our vision changes due to natural processes like presbyopia. In presbyopia, the lens of the eye becomes less flexible. This loss of flexibility makes it harder to focus on nearby objects. Wearing reading glasses or progressive lenses can help manage these changes.
Cataracts can also cause your prescription to change. You can get an updated prescription for new glasses to help with this. At some point, even a strong prescription may not help with cataracts, and you will need cataract surgery.
It is important to know that these changes are a normal part of aging and not caused by wearing glasses.
How Do You Know If You Need New Glasses?
Symptoms like eye strain, blurry vision, and double vision can indicate that your current glasses prescription may no longer be adequate. These symptoms should prompt a visit to an eye care professional for a new prescription. Wearing the wrong prescription glasses can exacerbate these symptoms, leading to discomfort and reduced quality of life.
The Importance Of Correct Prescription In Adults
Getting the correct prescription for your eyeglasses is important for your daily life. Ill-fitting glasses or wrong prescription glasses can lead to headaches, eye strain, and even worsen existing vision problems. Especially if you are driving, you will need accurate glasses to pass your DMV test. The vast majority of adults will know if their vision is blurry and they need a stronger prescription to correct their vision.
Long-Term Effects And Quality of Life
In the long run, wearing the correct prescription lenses improves the quality of life in patients. When you have clear vision you are able to function optimally.
For those with conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes, regular eye exams are important because these medical issues can affect the health of your eye. A healthy lifestyle, including a balanced diet and good night’s sleep, supports overall well-being and eye health.
Does Wearing Eyeglasses Make Your Vision Worse: Children
Now with children there is one case when wearing eyeglasses can make the vision worse. Let’s take a look.
Incorrect Eye Prescriptions In Children
Many children may need glasses. If children get the wrong eye prescription and their eyes do not see well in their early years, this can make a child’s eye worse. This is because before the age of 7, the visual system is still developing. This means if a child can not see clearly, their brain may begin to suppress the eye that does not see well. So while a correct prescription will not make a child’s eye worse, an incorrect prescription can.
This is why it is so important to take your child to the eye doctor in their early years of life especially if they have been identified by your pediatrician or by their school as having vision problems. Putting your child in the correct eye glass prescription if they need one is very important. Once the glasses prescription is confirmed to be correct, it is important for children to wear their glasses as much as possible to help to stimulate the developmental visual pathways.
Children can develop refractive errors like myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism early on. These errors are due to the shape of the eye, affecting how light rays focus on the retina. Corrective lenses are prescribed to adjust the focal point, providing clear vision and supporting proper visual development.
Eye Health And Regular Eye Exams
For children, regular eye exams are crucial for detecting vision problems early. Comprehensive eye exams can identify refractive errors and other eye conditions that might affect a child’s vision development. Early intervention can prevent more severe issues and ensure that the child’s visual system develops correctly.
Corrective Lenses And Vision Development
Wearing corrective lenses does not weaken a child’s eyes. In fact, making sure that a child sees clearly is important for their visual system development as well as for them to be able to learn properly in school. Correct prescription glasses help prevent eye strain and fatigue, supporting the development of eye muscles and proper visual acuity.
Addressing Specific Eye Conditions
For certain eye conditions, such as lazy eye (amblyopia), wearing the right prescription glasses is crucial for treatment. Early detection and proper correction can significantly improve vision and prevent long-term vision impairment. Regular eye exams ensure that any changes in vision are promptly addressed.
Common Misconceptions
Some parents worry that their child’s vision will worsen if they start wearing glasses. However, if children actually need glasses, it is extremely important for them to wear them.
Vision prescriptions can change frequently in young children. Regular updates to prescription lenses are necessary to accommodate these changes and ensure clear vision.
Symptoms Of Vision Problems
Children are not able to communicate vision problems as well as adults. If you see your child squinting, eye rubbing, or having headaches, or difficulty in school, this may be a sign that they need an eye exam. Wearing the correct prescription lenses is very important to support the child’s overall development.
The Importance Of Correct Prescription
Ensuring that children wear the correct prescription glasses is essential for their visual health. The wrong prescription glasses can lead to discomfort, eye strain, and headaches. It can also disrupt proper visual development in children who are younger than 7 years old.
Long-Term Effects and Quality of Life
Similar to adults, wearing the correct prescription improves a child’s quality of life by providing clear vision, reducing eye strain, and supporting learning and development. If you have a child that also has a chronic medical condition like diabetes, regular eye exams are very important as these medical issues can impact eye health. A balanced diet and healthy lifestyle also support overall well-being and eye health.
Does Wearing Glasses Make Your Eyes Worse: Summary
Wearing eyeglasses does not make vision worse for adults. In children wearing the wrong prescription can make vision worse. But wearing the right prescription in children is absolutely essesntial and important for visual development, especially in children 7 or younger. Eyeglasses are an important tool for correcting refractive errors and improving visual acuity. In addition to wearing your glasses, be sure to have regular eye exams so that you can maintain good eye health. Understanding the natural changes in vision due to aging or growth can help dispel the myth that eyeglasses weaken the eyes. Instead, they provide the necessary correction to help see clearly and maintain a high quality of life.
