Myopia (Nearsighted)
Myopia is the medical term for nearsightedness. More than 70 million people in the United States are myopic. Myopia occurs when an eye is too long for the cornea's curvature. Light rays entering the eye do not come to a sharp focus on the retina at the back of the eye. Instead, they focus further forward, producing a blurred image.
The term 'nearsighted' means that you can see 'near' objects clearly without your glasses, but objects further away are blurry. Myopic prescriptions can vary from mild to extreme. The more myopic you are, the more blurred objects appear in the distance resulting in a higher eyeglass prescription and thicker glasses.
Of all myopic people, about 90% have prescriptions less than -6.00 diopters. The table below shows the categories of severity for myopia:
Mild Myopia < -3.00 diopters
Moderate Myopia -3.00 to -6.00 diopters
Severe Myopia -6.00 to -9.00 diopters
Extreme Myopia > -9.00 diopters
Almost everyone feels that their
myopia is severe because of how dramatically dependent they are on glasses
or contact lenses. However, only one in ten myopic people are actually in
the severe and extreme categories. Every patient and prescription is looked
at individually to decide what is best for them. We are very prudent and
thorough in deciding whether you are a good candidate for laser vision correction
and will be happy to discuss the potential outcome and risks involved for
a patient with your particular prescription.
