Near And Far - How To Know Which Sight You Have

You may be well aware that your vision is less than perfect. You may not know however whether you are nearsighted or farsighted. Although most people just trust that their eye care professionals are great with paper work and note the correct choice of the two, you may be curious to know where you fall in the spectrum. You can always ask your eye care professional to find out. However, if you would rather figure it out yourself, you can learn how to read your eyeglass prescription. Knowing how to read your prescription as well as notice signs and symptoms of each one, will help you determine if you are indeed near or far.

Reading Your Prescription

Your eyeglass prescription can be something that looks like a book in another language. It can be challenging to understand what the letters and numbers mean. When you break it down however, it is not that difficult to take in. First, you will notice when you view your prescription that there are Latin abbreviations in the form of letters. If you see OS, you are looking at the left eye notes. When you see OD, you are looking at information for the right eye. If you see OU, you are viewing something that pertains to both eyes.

Keep in mind that generally the father the number is from zero, the worse your eyesight is. When you see a plus sign along with the numbers for one eye, you are farsighted in that eye. A minus sign along with the numbers means you are nearsighted in that eye. Most people are either farsighted in both or nearsighted in both. It is rare that one eye would be one without the other. However, it is common that each eye might be a little worse in the same direction as the other.

Nearsighted

Nearsightedness, which is technically referred to as myopia, affects up to 30% of the world. It is a condition in which the patient has a hard time focusing on objects far away. They may be able to see things up close clearly, but may see things far away as being blurry. This condition of the eye is due to a refractive error. The eyeball in this case is too long or the cornea is curved incorrectly. This creates a problem when the light tries to enter the eye. The incorrect process causes blurriness.

Myopia is something that usually begins in childhood and can be common in some families. Depending on the individual, the condition can worsen with age or maintain the same. Some common symptoms of nearsightedness are headaches, strain, squinting, and eye fatigue.

Farsighted

Farsightedness is a very common condition today. It is estimated that at least 25% of the population deals with this problem. This condition, also called hyperopia, basically means that you have a hard time seeing things close up. You may have great difficulty reading a book or a menu. When you have severe hyperopia, you will also have trouble seeing things far away. This problem gets worse with age, so you can count on dealing with it for the rest of your life after the initial diagnosis.

The problem of farsightedness is caused by a refractive error in your eyes. Your eyes are not able to bend light rays correctly. The images transmitted to your brain are not accurate. It is something that is often inherited although some children born with it will outgrow it as they age. There symptoms of farsightedness include headaches, difficulty focusing on objects, eye strain, and reading fatigue. It can be corrected with glasses, contacts, or surgery.

Once you understand a little more about your prescription, you will see that it is easy to figure out if you are nearsighted or farsighted. The symptoms may appear to be the same, but there is a distinct difference in the two. While the easiest way to see which one you suffer from is looking at your eyeglasses prescription, you may not have access to it. Try asking your eye care professional on your next visit or use the descriptions of the two to figure it out yourself. Once you know, your curiosity will be cured!