Laser eye surgery?

[charbydis]

charbydis,

what is your opinion on eye excercises that claim to improve vision naturally? Once an eye becomes myopic, is it possible to reverse the myopia at least partially with natural excercise of eye muscles?

thanks

hiya!

The eye exercises you are talking about don't help myopis or hypermetropia or presbyopia (when you get old and have to hold reading further and futrher away). As Han Solo mentioned, these exercises are for lazy eye muscles that cause you eye to turn to one side instead of looking straught.

For some people, mainly children, who has very slight laziness of eye muscles, the the eyes nto being parallel can tire their brains out and thus the vision would be blurry. The way to help in those cases is to do exercises to build up muscle fibre in teh weak eye muscles so the person has more control over the eye muscles to keep the eyes straight and vision clear.

There was a report about eye exercises helping people become spectacle-free on a show called "Today Tonight" last year, and when my class saw it (we were out celebrating end of exams at dinner), we cracked up laughing cos it was a load of ****. Myopia and hypermetropia is not caused by tonicity of eye muscles, but by the length of the eye and refractive content of the lens and cornea. It is what we are born with adn e cannto change it unless we wear glasses or have surgery.

So to answer your question, no, once an eye is myopic, you cannot reverse myopia unless by surgical or spectacle means. But if you are hypermetropic, there wil be a brief period when you are 60 or so and develop cataracts which will temporaroly cancel out your long-sightedness even withotu glasses, but it quicky goes the other way you have to wear glasses again.

[yearning]

Charbydis, do you know why wearing glasses for a prolonged period (like years and years) changes the shape of your eye balls and make them look bulged out (i.e. bug-eyed)? Is this effect permanent even if you get laser eye surgery and not wear glasses ever again?

[charbydis]

charbydis can be our spcnet eye doctor now.

Good, I'll chase after you with dilating drops now! extra strength so they sting!

[libby96]

what are dilating drops?? and you're being mean to me!!! you're older, so you're bullying!! *starts crying*

[charbydis]

what are dilating drops?? and you're being mean to me!!! you're older, so you're bullying!! *starts crying*

Dilating drops are what the eye clinic uses to make your pupils very large so we can have a look inside. It makes you see blurry for hours and they sting like no tomorrow!

[flyingfox2002]

Charbydis, do you know why wearing glasses for a prolonged period (like years and years) changes the shape of your eye balls and make them look bulged out (i.e. bug-eyed)? Is this effect permanent even if you get laser eye surgery and not wear glasses ever again?

It's not because of wearing eye glasses...

Your myopia is worsening, your eyeball is elongating. Thus the bulge.

My eyes have a slight bulge now, and I am afraid when I am 40, I will be Mr. Bugeye.

---
Ok thanks charbydis. I figured that the improve vision naturally claim was a scam. But... is it possible that if you strengthen the muscles that surround the eyeball, it would be more difficult for the eyeball to continue to elongate? I.e. you stop or slow down the worsening of myopia?

[charbydis]

It's not because of wearing eye glasses...

Your myopia is worsening, your eyeball is elongating. Thus the bulge.

My eyes have a slight bulge now, and I am afraid when I am 40, I will be Mr. Bugeye.

---
Ok thanks charbydis. I figured that the improve vision naturally claim was a scam. But... is it possible that if you strengthen the muscles that surround the eyeball, it would be more difficult for the eyeball to continue to elongate? I.e. you stop or slow down the worsening of myopia?

No. Muscles don;t grow around teh eye, but just attach at certain pivot point to move our eyeballs.. It has nothing to do with eye shape or myopia at all.

The outside eyeball is made of a soft but thick layer of tissue called the sclera. It is tough and elastic to an degree. Everyone has a natural eye pressure from inside their eye called intraocular pressure which helps us maintian our eye shape. But at times when this pressure goes up due to ilness (high blood pressure, thyroid problems, hormone problems, etc...), glaucoma, inflection, or for no real reaosn at all, the sclera is forced to stretch like the skin of a balloon as you blow. The greater the introcular pressure, the thinner the sclera is. When the thickness fo the sclera is no longer strong enough to hold the normal eye shape, your eye tends to bulge out. Paticular thinning of one part of the sclera is called a staphyloma, and this is pathological. It is fixed by surgery wear a permanent buckle is placed around at the weak part to hold it against the pressure from within.

The normal elongation of an eye cannot be stopped. It is like the growth spurt of a teenager. The only way to stop it is to take drugs to stop you from growing but that had disastrous side effects, This normal elongation is irriversible, but it stops when you stop growing, so about mid 20's or even up to 30, your myopia can still progress. but it will eventually settle down.

Bulging of the eye could either be misled by thick glasses, or for real when the intraocular pressure is up or you have fat eye muscles which are pushing the eyeball out cos there is no space. And as you have said, high-myopic people have a slight bulge, but not due to a long eye but due to stretching the outer layer.

[charbydis]

Charbydis, do you know why wearing glasses for a prolonged period (like years and years) changes the shape of your eye balls and make them look bulged out (i.e. bug-eyed)? Is this effect permanent even if you get laser eye surgery and not wear glasses ever again?

Hi! Glasses don't actually change the shape of yoru eye, it is the eye pressure and thinning of the outer layer of the eyeball which makes the eye slightly bulging. Thsi is permanent unless the bulging happens while you are sick with high blood pressure or thyroid problems or glaucoma. In thos ecases, pressure-lowering drops woudl work, but not if your eye layer is thin and pressures are normal.

If you get laser surgery, the effect is worsened as your cornea is thinned in the process, and it just weakens the eye structure against eye pressure even mroe and the eye will bulge more out.

[libby96]

are there any other surgeries that are reliable?

[NextNoName]

I highly recommend lasik to anyone 20 or above. I had lasik. It has no side effect for me.

[girllikeme]

If you really can't stand glasses, then I suggest it.

My friend had laser eye surgery a few months ago; she could drive for a while but now she's doing fine; I think you should try it.

[SkyKing]

I highly recommend lasik to anyone 20 or above. I had lasik. It has no side effect for me.

n how old r u and when did u get lasik??

[ghostdarTeal'c]

a friend of mine had lasik and he's 23. not sure if he had any side-effects, but for those to happen i guess it would be another year or two, right?

a very informative thread this is, thanks to charbydis. boy did that open my eyes on the eyes thnx for sharing

[darkcser]

Has anyone tried OrthoKeratology?

[flyingfox2002]

Has anyone tried OrthoKeratology?

What's that?

I saw on the news that there's a 'new' technique (I dunno how 'new' it actually is) where surgeons place the lens inside your eye behind the cornea but in front of the iris. It sounds pretty high risk to me... Maybe char can tell us more about that.

[warlock110]

charbydis,

what is your opinion on eye excercises that claim to improve vision naturally? Once an eye becomes myopic, is it possible to reverse the myopia at least partially with natural excercise of eye muscles?

thanks

the muscles only moves, it can't see, i don't know how it'll work.

[darkcser]

What's that?

I saw on the news that there's a 'new' technique (I dunno how 'new' it actually is) where surgeons place the lens inside your eye behind the cornea but in front of the iris. It sounds pretty high risk to me... Maybe char can tell us more about that.

IIRC they're like contacts that you wear at night. Supposedly they will alter the shape of your eye while you sleep. In the day time you remove them, and the altered shape will last for some period of time. It's not a permanent fix so you will have to continue to wear it at night.

I don't know how long you have to wear one of these things before the shape is altered significantly or how long before they revert.

It's been FDA approved I think.

[SkyKing]

anyone know about liquid gel put in ur eye? put the gel underneth your eye using a needle.....i think i saw it on abc news not to long ago....they only offer in Europe at this time...

[libby96]

anyone know about liquid gel put in ur eye? put the gel underneth your eye using a needle.....i think i saw it on abc news not to long ago....they only offer in Europe at this time...

what does it do?

[SkyKing]

what does it do?

to see better w/o wearing glasses...