Myopia is the most common vision problem in the population and the amount of people affected has been growing quickly. The eye ball is longer than normal causing light to focus in front the retina instead of on it. People with myopia can usually see close objects well but have difficulty focusing at distance.

Symptoms of Myopia sometimes include headaches, eye strain and fatigue while driving or playing sports.

Treatment for Myopia is glasses or contacts. You will need a (-) Minus prescription if you are nearsighted either all the time or when needing to see clear in the distance.

Myopia begins at childhood and stabilizes in early adulthood in most cases. There is higher risk is the parents are also nearsighted.

There are ways to try and reduce the progression of myopia in childhood. Some of the different techniques are bifocal/ progressive lenses, special contact lenses orthokeratology/ dual focus disposable contact lens and atropine drops

Refractive error is when light does not focus on our retina properly due to the shape of our eyes.

The most common refractive errors are :

• Hyperopia
• Myopia
• Astigmatism
• Presbyopia