MYOPIA

April 4, 2009

The eye is the most sophisticated camera on the earth. For it to show a perfect picture, Incoming light rays have to be focused by the cornea at the front of the eyeball so that they converge precisely on the retina which is connected to the optic nerve at the back. The retina then converts the light into impulses, sent through the optic nerve to the brain which interprets them as images. This behavior pattern of the eye can be seen in normal human beings. For people who suffer from myopia or short-sightedness, the eye is a few millimeters too long, so the light converges in front of the retina, sending a blurred image to the brain of anything than a few metres away. It is similar to the principle when the camera lens goes out of focus. Those with myopia can see nearby objects clearly but distant objects remain blurred. What a normal-sighted person could see clearly from 60 metres, these sufferers could see from just three metres with constant irritation. Spectacles or corrective lenses are a temporary cure for myopia which work by reducing the blur circle formed on the retina but a complete freedom from myopia is strictly necessary for proper vision.