Why is my vision deteriorating?!

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

You are experiencing the same thing that happened to billions of people since glasses became a widely used method to "correct" nearsightedness (also known as myopia or shortsightedness). The problem is that glasses "correct" myopia instantaneously and if your eyesight gets worse you'll be given stronger glasses which in turn will become weak and so on .Glasses for myopia can be extremely harmful to the eyes unless they are used properly.
When they test your eyes they ask you to read the letters on a chart which is 20 feet away ( 6 meters ) and that's correct because a myope has problems with distant things and the more distant a thing is, the blurrier the vision. But who spend all their time looking at things that are so far away ? No one, and that's why the glasses usually given to myopes are excellent to see distant things but are definitely too strong for everyday use. Here's explained one of the main reasons for declining eyesight : wrong glasses. It's true that a myope can read a book with his/her glasses on but only because the eyes make an effort to compensate those glasses which in that specific circumstance are too strong. That effort is called over-accommodation and it's the real cause of myopia. A young person who has perfect eyesight can easily become myopic if he/she spends most of the time looking at things that are too close. Constant over-accommodation leads to myopia. When one becomes myopic, the use of wrong glasses (i.e.. too strong for a specific task) leads to over-accommodation and to more myopia. For instance many boys/girls keep books too close when they read/study. It's not necessary, it's just a bad habit that may ruin their eyesight over the years
A considerate eye doctor/optometrist/optician should always tell their young patients that glasses are not to be used unless they are necessary. When a myope can see fairly well without them, they must not use them. For example many young myopes do not need glasses for reading and writing, because for such a small distance their natural eyesight is more than enough. Because of the level of myopia you always need glasses, but not always your current ones which are a full prescription. The keyword is "undercorrection" i.e. weaker glasses. Your current glasses are too strong for many activities such as reading books,using the computer, watching tv and so on .
If you have older glasses they are probably weaker. Use them whenever possible. The weaker the better,provided they allow you to see clearly enough without staying too close to what you're looking at. Since there's a big difference between your eyes you have to be careful : weaker glasses means that each lens must be lowered by the same amount. For instance when you read books you should use glasses that are 2 diopter lower for each eye :-7 and -4.25 would become -5 and -2.25 (your other numbers are astigmatism and can be left unchanged, because astigmatism correction isn't harmful as with myopia).

Do not use your current glasses to stay at home or going out for a walk, use undercorrections instead. In other words, use your current glasses as little as possible, only when it's strictly necessary. It's always better to see a little blurry than to see perfectly, because a little blurriness stimulates your eyes, while the full correction makes them weaker and more dependent on glasses.

Always remember: the shorter the distance , the weaker the glasses.
Every myope should have at least 3 pair of glasses with different power. One which fully corrects myopia and two undercorrections. Of these two undercorrections, one should be very weak and should be used for near work. A second undercorrection would have to be a bit stronger and should be used for medium distance (staying home, watching tv, etc.).. The full correction should be used only when strictly necessary.
If the doctor gives you new and stronger glasses, take them but use them as little as needed, i.e. when you really need a very good eyesight. Whenever you can, use weaker glasses (or no glasses for near work if your myopia is moderate). That's extremely important if you want to avoid further worsening of your eyesight. Even when using weaker glasses always remember to stay as distant as possible from what you are looking at. In fact it's useless to wear undercorrection or no glasses if you stay closer than necessary to what you are looking at.


The puzzlement about the rapid decline of your eyesight is actually answered by your own question. The problem is that for many years you never wore glasses. That means that for many years your eyes never had to accommodate. When suddenly you started using glasses your eyes were suddenly forced to accommodate a lot, really a lot, because they were no longer used to it. They had to endure an extreme accommodation which as I said is the main cause of myopia. Your eyes were, and still are, traumatized by full-prescription glasses.

If you don't start using undercorrections your eyesight will keep worsening for years to come Leave your eye doctor immediately and look for a behavioural optometrist (which is not a regular optometrist) who won't give you just glasses, but will also you teach how to protect your eyesight and improve it at least a little.

I also recommend you to read this book which I found very interesting and informative about myopia and its causes . It includes also a visual training method that has helped to improve my eyesight a lot (currently I'm -1.00 from an initial -3.75)
http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Perfect-Vis…

There's also a forum
http://www.powervisionforum.com/forum/fo…

In some eyes the rays of light are brought to a focus too soon so that the image on the retina is blurred, producing myopia or nearsightedness. In others, the rays have not focused by the time they reach the retina. This is hyperopia or farsightedness. In still other eyes, the optical system is slightly distorted so that rays entering in the horizontal plane focus at a distance different from those entering in the vertical plane. This is astigmatism.

Well the other one is presbyopia but usually starts at age 50 so I think only an eye specialist can really know what your problem is. =3

http://www.wikihealthy.com/diseases-of-t…

Scientific studies show no evidence that wearing/not wearing your glasses, eating certan foods, eye exercises, watching /not watching TV make any difference to your eyesight. I'm agree with pennybar that you should get a second opinion as to such a rapid increase in your short sightedness.

I did exactly teh same as you by the way although I got contacts at 13. I can't see the eyechart witout my glasses either and I'm wholly dependent on glasses/contacts. I dont' let this stop me doing anything, but my eyesight didnt' go downhill nearly as fast as that when I was your age.

Usually myopia is called by the eyeball itself elongating. (Getting longer front to back). This is unnatural and hence why the vision system of the person produces worse and worse results over time.

Other areas that can cause problems with eyesight are the cornea, ciliary muscle/crystalline lens, and the retina.

Its possible to check which one of these is the cause of your vision problems. (That is If you wanted to clear up all options). You can ask for a professional to check/measure any part of your eye.

I agree with the other answer. Laser eye surgery often gets worse after having it done. if your eyesight deteriorates by at least another 2 diopters since your surgery then you will be back in the same point as you were before. Struggling with your unassisted vision.

Diseases and illness can have an effect on eyesight. If you notice anything else wrong with you then go in for a check up with doctor. But if you just have an issue with elongation of the eyeball its unlikely any disease is the cause of your problem.

Well most myopic people find that when they truely relax, allow their eyes to turn/move freely, smile and in general being comfortable around people...is when they get a small improvement to their vision.
However there is only so far this improvement can go due to, as said earlier, the limit imposed on your distance vision by the longterm elongation of your eyeball.
Some experts suggest that if then eyeball can lengthen (front to back) then it is equally possible for it to be shortened. (Either by course of nature or from using the opposite type of lens (convex)

Source:
Shaeffel, F., Glasser, A., and Howland, H.C. (1988) Accomodation, refractive error and eye growth in chickens. Vis. Res. 28, 639-657.
Shaeffel F., Howland HC. (1991) Properties of feedback loops controlling eye growth and refractive state in the chicken. Vis Res; 31:717-734.


Anyway here are some links that you might want to consider. They are free and you have no obligation to continue with any of them (you can go back to glasses if you wish.)

http://www.naturalvisioncenter.com/Succe…
http://www.natural-vision.co.uk/
http://www.visionsofjoy.org/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub1LYoDiA… (Eye Relaxation Techniques)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jhqZO18f… (Eye Exercises)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjaQKYnx1… (Pinhole Theory)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDBrn6Bo3… (Clinic using Pinhole Glasses)

That covers a wide range. Relaxation, Eye Exercise, Pinhole Glasses and more.


Popular books on natural vision improvement:
"Relearning to See" by Tom Quackenbush
"The Bates Method for Better Eyesight Without Glasses" by William H Bates
"The Secret of Perfect Vision" by David de Angelis
"Natural Vision Improvement" by Janet Goodrich


Its a myth that myopia is caused by parents/genetics.

Sources:

(Inuit Eskimo Eyesight Research)
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&sou…
(Comparison of ethnic chinese children living in singapore and australia)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18413…

Ignore what was said by pennybar. Eyesight in normal healthy adults never stabilises. There is a decrease in range of vision (near to far) of 2 diopters every 5 years
Source: http://www.tedmontgomery.com/the_eye/len…

You could be as old as 30 before your vision actually stabilizes, but such a severe change in vision every 6 months is certainly unusual. You may have some underlying optical problem and really ought to make an appointment with another ophthalmologist for a comprehensive dilated eye exam to ensure you do not have any eye underlying eye disease and to get a second opinion

Sorry: Dr Nice is wrong, most peoples vision does stabilize, which simply means your eye glass/contacts lens prescription remains the same for 10 years. Everyone know that as we reach middle age, our vision often changes and we need reading glasses. The answerer who continually advocates eye exercises is totally wrong, even he admits that it takes many years and many hours per day to get any visual change and he still need corrective lenses. Those who advocate alternative methods for visual correction, like not wearing glasses or using a lower correction than you need put both the wearer and others at risk. I would not want to be on the road with that spaceman when he is driving a car.

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http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRela…