The human eye is a complex structure, where a number of things can go wrong. The most common problems that can take place are refractive errors, known as farsightedness, nearsightedness, presbyopia, and astigmatism. Refractive errors occur when the eye’s shape prevents light from focusing directly on the retina. The eyeball’s length (either shorter or longer), aging of the lens, or changes in the cornea’s shape can result in refractive errors. A majority of people have one or more of these conditions.
1. Hyperopia or Farsightedness
If the lens can’t be made circular enough to get the focal point of nearby objects on the retina, the conclusion is farsightedness. In this condition, distant objects may be seen more clearly than nearer objects. However, some people may not notice any issues, especially at a young age. For people with significant farsightedness, vision may be blurry for objects at any distance, far or near.
The extent of your farsightedness impacts your capability to focus, and the issue is generally present at birth and tends to be genetic.
The solution to this eye condition is convex glasses or contact lenses, or laser treatment to make the cornea more spherical, thus pushing the focal point further.
2. Myopia or Nearsightedness
When the stretched out lens leads to a focal point in front of the retina, a person will have difficulty viewing distant objects sharply. The waves of light from the adjacent point will overlap, thereby causing a blurry image. Objects nearby will result in no such issue, since the focal point here lies further backward in the eye.
People who have problems seeing distant objects, but not nearby objects, suffer from myopia or nearsightedness. The solution to this problem is concave glasses or contact glasses since these are designed to decrease the convergence of the light waves, thereby pushing the focal point backwards. Laser treatment is another option that can make the cornea flatter.
3. Astigmatism
This is an eye condition where the eye fails to focus light properly onto the retina, which is a light-sensitive tissue present at the back of the eye. An unevenly shaped cornea or lens stops the light from correctly focusing on the retina, thereby making the vision hazy at any distance. This condition occurs with other vision issues such as hyperopia and myopia. Together these vision issues are known as refractive errors since they impact how the eyes refract or bend light.
Astigmatism also takes place owing to a relatively rare condition known as keratoconus, where the cornea progressively becomes cone-shaped and thinner. This can lead to significant astigmatism, which results in poor vision that can’t be properly corrected with eyeglasses. People who have keratoconus generally require contact lenses for clear vision and might eventually need a transplant of the cornea.
These are just some of the many common eye problems that can be corrected through contact lenses, eyeglasses, or surgery.
