Other Name(s):
Nearsightedness

What is Myopia?
Nearsightedness, also called myopia (my-OH-pee-ah), means having good near vision but poor distance vision. For the myopic person, a distant image (an image at least twenty feet away) falls in front of the retina and looks blurred. Nearsightedness results when an eye is too long, when the cornea is too steeply curved, when the eye's lens is unable to relax enough to provide accurate distance vision, or from some combination of these and other factors.

Areas of Body Directly Affected:
Eyes

Symptoms:
Poor distance vision.

Treatment:
Possible treatments for myopia are glasses, contact lenses, and refractive surgery. At home, be sure there is enough indirect light for your work - and that you don't have a desk that faces a wall. You'll want to be able to look up and focus for distance from time to time. Do about twenty to thirty minutes of reading, then take two minutes or so to look far away or close your eyes. Reading distance should be kept at fourteen to sixteen inches-no closer! Vision therapy may also be helpful in treating myopia. Remember if you try this that changing the way you see is a monumental task, which can only be achieved by committing to the process and following through completely. Also, be sure to increase your intake of dietary fiber and reduce the amount of simple carbohydrates (sugar). Avoid most processed foods.

Computer-Related Causes
Constant near-point focusing. Computers require us to continually focus on a close object (the screen), and over the past fifteen years, eye care professionals have seen more cases of myopia progressing well into the late twenties or even thirties. Although the reason for this is not certain, computers are almost certainly one of the culprits, as adults are spending more time in front of their monitors.

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