According to a study at the National Eye Institute (NEI), rates of myopia in people ages 12 to 54 raised from 25% in the early 70’s to nearly 42% in 1999-2000. This data marks a nearly 70% increase of myopia prevalence for the past 20 years. This data is not only quite disturbing but leads to the question: Is there a way to prevent nearsightedness? How to improve myopia once you already have it?
As you already know, especially if you suffer from nearsightedness, glasses and contacts are the most common option for managing this eyesight disorder. But how to improve myopia if you are sick of wearing glasses or contacts? The good news is that natural vision improvement methods for alleviating the symptoms of myopia also exist. In fact, some natural correction programs can completely restore vision in myopic eyes.
Here are several tips that will help you retain your good distant vision and teach you how to improve myopia:
• Have your eyes checked at least once per year. This way you will detect and take steps to improving myopia even if you still don’t experience significant vision problems.
• Always wear correct eyeglasses or contact lenses prescription. Even if you are doing eye exercises to improve nearsightedness, you should wear correct eyeglasses or contacts to avoid additional eye strain. As your eyesight is improving, you may need to change your prescription.
• Recent studies showed that vitamin B2 (riboflavin) strengthens the outside layer of the eye (the sclera) and may reduce the risk of nearsightedness. Include foods rich in vitamin B2 to your daily menu (calf liver, crimini mushrooms, low-fat yogurt, spinach, milk, beef, romaine lettuce, Swiss chard).
• Quit unhealthy habits such as smoking and/or chronic drinking – they may worsen nearsightedness and increase the risk of other serious eye diseases.
• Provide your eyes with enough time for relaxation and stick to a daily eye exercise routine. It is now thought that any activity that involves long periods of uninterrupted close-up eye work may change the shape of the eye and thus lead to myopia. On the other hand, looking at objects in the distance actually relaxes the eyes and lowers the risk of nearsightedness. Some studies even suggest that not the time spent in close-up eye work but the time spent using distance vision is what increases or decreases the risk of nearsightedness.
