I'm confused about whether wearing glasses will only worsen you eyesight?!

I'm confused about whether wearing glasses will only worsen you eyesight?

Well my parents reckon that if you're only slightly myopic (short/near sightedness) then wearing glasses will only make it worse, since your eyes become 'dependent' on the glasses. They say you should instead just 'train' your eyes (such as not reading in dim light, holding a book at least 12 inches away from you when reading etc) to prevent your myopia from getting worse, and it may even make it go away.

This sounds truly bizarre to me - I mean, glasses designed for short-sightedness have a concave lens that actually help focus an image onto your retina. How does it make it worse?
Thanks for all your opinions on this!

You're right - it doesn't make it worse!!! You'd be amazed at how many people are under this same misconception. I sure was blown away at how many people think that wearing glasses makes your eyes worse...its a load of crap. Wearing glasses or contacts does not have ANY EFFECT WHATSOEVER on how your eyes will change or how quickly...here's why:

When you are only slightly myopic, as you had mentioned above. Let's argue for a second that you need your glasses only for driving at night (which is when i wear mine) You put your glasses on so road signs are clearer because without them you cannot see the speed limit signs until you are almost on top of them. When you get home, you take your glasses off and go in the house...things seem kinda fuzzy for a minute or two after you take them off until your eyes readjust to not having them on. Things seem blurry BY COMPARISON because while you had them on, your eyes were able to focus without straining and then you take them off. Its not that the glasses are making things worse...they are making things BETTER.

The lenses will bend the light to help compensate for the irregularities in the shape of your eyes (either too long, or too short, or an irregular shaped cornea for astigmatism) The lenses cannot change the anatomy of your eye. By "training your eyes" as your parents have mentioned, all your doing is causing them more strain. They strain because they cannot work properly on their own and forcing them to try to focus when they physically cannot is only going to cause MORE squinting and MORE headaches. Reading in dim light and things of that nature, while aren't good for your eyes, don't make the eyes worse...it causes even more strain.

Conversely, NOT wearing glasses does not have any effect on how your eyes change either. Just like wearing glasses won't make them worse, neither will NOT wearing them. You will squint and strain and get headaches, but it won't make your vision deteriorate any faster.

So go tell your parents that they are wrong as can be...and this time you can be confident that you have one up on them.

**Some people have NO business answering questions of this nature because they obviously have no idea what they are talking about...am I right, Jennifer?? LOL**