The Ophthalmology
Survival Guide
Myopia
When the light rays from distant objects are blurred, but the light from near objects is clear, the eye is said to by myopic, or near-sighted.
Survival Tips!
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In myopic eyes, light rays tend to focus before reaching the macula.
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There is little that a myopic (i.e. near-sighted) eye can do to compensate except for moving closer to the object being viewed.
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Refractive errors can occur naturally as the result of poor emmetropization, or they can be the result of injury, disease, or surgery. Regardless of how they occur, the result is the same. Blurry vision.
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Being able to detect and measure refractive errors manually will always be a useful survival skill. This can be done using the Bruckner test or retinoscopy.
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Pinhole viewing can be used in the clinic to help determine if a patient’s poor visual acuity is due to underlying refractive error. If the visual acuity is significantly improved by viewing through a pinhole, it can be inferred that at least some of the reduced acuity is due to refractive blur.