Our eyes are a complex organ that allow us to see the world around us. But what happens when our vision starts to become distorted? In this article, we'll explore the two main types of vision: nearsightedness and farsightedness, as well as astigmatism, presbyopia, and emmetropy.
Nearsightedness
(myopia) is when you can see clearly up close but blurry in the distance. This occurs when the cornea (the front of the eye) is too pronounced or the eye is too long, and light rays focus on the front of the retina, rather than on the retina, as they should.This condition can be corrected with eyeglasses, contact lenses, lens implants, or LASIK.
Farsightedness
is when you can see clearly in the distance, but blurry up close. Farsightedness occurs when the cornea (the front of the eye) is too flat or the eye is too short, and light rays are focused behind the retina, rather than on the retina, as they should. This condition can be corrected with eyeglasses, contact lenses, lens implants, or in some cases LASIK.Astigmatism
is when your eye is not round but shaped like a soccer ball. This causes some of the light rays to focus on the retina and others to focus in front of or behind the retina.This visual distortion can produce shadows, double images, or ghost images. Often people will have astigmatism combined with nearsightedness or farsightedness. This condition can be corrected with eyeglasses, contact lenses, lens implants, or in many cases LASIK.
Presbyopia
is a condition that occurs between the ages of 40 and 50 when people start to have difficulty reading and seeing. As the eye ages, the eye's lens hardens making it harder for muscles to focus on the lens.This condition can be corrected with reading glasses, contact lenses, lens implants and in some cases LASIK.
