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Eye Faqs

• When should I take my child in for an eye exam?

  The American Optometric Association recommends that infants have an eye exam during their first 12 months of life. After that, before your child enters first grade, he or she should undergo a complete vision check-up. Your pediatrician's routine eye exam does not replace the need for this comprehensive eye exam, performed by an eye care professional, which should be repeated according to the schedule your eye care professional recommends.

• Will wearing glasses every day will make my eyes lazy or weak?

No, because goal of vision correction is two-fold: one, to provide clear eyesight, and two, to provide visual comfort. Some eyes can see adequately without vision correction but only by exerting unnecessary effort. This can cause fatigue, discomfort, and loss of visual acuity. Wearing properly prescribed eyeglasses will not in any way accelerate the natural and expected changes your eyes will undergo throughout your lifetime.

• Can wearing eyeglasses cause me to become dependent on them?

No. With glasses, you see clearer. When you wear glasses regularly, you become more comfortable with the clearer vision and less comfortable with the blurry vision. This may make you feel like you are more dependent on your glasses.

• Will contact lenses prevent nearsightedness from getting worse?

No. Wearing contact lenses (or glasses) will allow you to see more clearly, but will not change your nearsightedness or farsightedness.

• Why is wearing someone else's glasses bad for my eyes?

You will not be able to see clearly or comfortably with the wrong glasses, and this can lead to fatigue and eye strains.

• Can eating carrots improve my vision?

No. Carrots are rich in vitamin A, which is essential for sight, but many other foods also contain this vitamin. A well-balanced diet, with or without carrots, provides all the vitamin A necessary for good vision.

• Will sitting close to the television damage children's eyes?

Children can focus at close distance without eyestrain better than adults. They tend to develop the habit of holding reading materials close to their eyes or sitting right in front of the television. There is no evidence that this damages their eyes, and the habit usually diminishes as children grow older. Children with nearsightedness (myopia) sometimes sit close to the television in order to see the images more clearly.

• Can reading in the dark damage my eyes?

No. You will not be able to see as well or as comfortably as you can under the right lighting. This will cause your eyes to work harder, causing fatigue and eye strains, but no permanent damage.

• Why is it bad to look directly at the sun?

The sun's harmful UV rays can cause sunburn on your eyes, early cataract, and damage on your retina which can lead to blindness.

• Are sunglasses really necessary?

Yes. Sunglasses protect the eyes from the sun's harmful UV rays, which can cause sunburn on your eyes, early cataract, and damage on your retina with can lead to blindness.

• Are all red eyes contagious?

No. Some red eyes are from viral infections (like those from the common cold), which does NOT require medication, or bacterial infections, which requires antibiotics. But most red eyes result from allergies or "dry eye syndrome".

• If someone is nearsighted they can't see things near, right?

Actually it is the other way around. People with nearsightedness see near very well, but they have trouble seeing things far away. The scientific name for nearsightedness is myopia.

• People who are farsighted can see far better than they can see near. The scientific name for farsightedness is called hyperopia.
• Can eyes be transplanted?

No. Medical science has no way to transplant whole eyes. Our eyes are connected to the brain by the optic nerve. Much like a fiber optic cable, the optic nerve is made up of more than 1 million tiny nerve fibers. This nerve cannot be reconnected once it has been severed. Because of this, the eye is never removed from its socket during surgery. The cornea, the clear front part of the eye, has been successfully transplanted for many years. Corneal transplant is sometimes confused with an eye transplant.

• Can children outgrow crossed or misaligned eyes?

No. Over time, the brain will ignore the misaligned eye, causing vision in that eye to get worse, which, in turn, makes it easier for the brain to ignore it. This eye will not have good vision unless it is force to work, usually by patching the good eye. Children who appear to have misaligned eyes should be examined as early as possible. Treatment may include patching, eyeglasses, eyedrops, vision therapy, surgery or a combination of these methods.