What's Wrong With My Vision?

Question

I used to have really good eyesight, I only needed glasses for one thing and that was to read. I kept getting headaches from reading to much and they said my eye muscles were weak. I didn't wear the glasses they gave me. But, over the past year I've noticed that my vision is getting really bad. Like, when I'm in the first row in class, I can't make out the teachers facial features. I can only see my facial features when I'm about 3 feet from the mirror. I used to be able to read signs really well from far away, and now I can barely see them when we're driving pass upclose. It's been happening so suddenly, I don't really know what to do. I don't go and get my eyes examined.
I don't know what's going on? I don't want to sound paranoid, but am I going blind or something? What do you think is going on?

Answer 1

You have a mild myopia. You are a little bit nearsighted. If you can see well up to about 3 feet, your Rx would be about a -1.00 or so. Beyond that, you won't see well. Your eyes are too strong.

The power is equal to one over the distance in meters or P=1/d. So if you are focused at 3 feet which is about a meter, that's a 1.00.
Half a meter 2.00
third of a meter 3.00
fourth of a meter 4.00
eighth of a meter 8.00
etc.

they are +1.00 (more or less) too strong, that's why a -1.00 will work to move the focal point out. You should wear your glasses at school or when driving (please) or at the movies or any time you want to see beyond a meter. You do not need to wear them to read as you are already focused close.

If you read a lot, as most myopes do, or study a lot as occurs when one gets into high school or secondary school or college, that's when you'll notice the need for the little help. If you used a +1.00 reading glasses over the counter (assuming you don't have any astigmatism), it'd make reading easier.

Some people like bifocals or trifocals, most like the progressive lenses where the distance Rx is on top and as you look down and in, the power increases slowly giving you a gradient of increased power. Nice for those intermediate distances such as computers...

You will get a little stronger as you age, as the lens in the eye grows with age. By the time you are 40 or so, it's too hard to bend easily and people get readers to help out. For you though, might not ever get readers. Some myopes wear their distance glasses to see normally and look over the top of them to read.

You don't need to worry about becoming blind. Not from this...

Answer 2

Likely you have become myopic. This common, happens to about 25% of students between age 10 and 16.

You need to see your eye doctor to know for sure.

Answer 3

I cant really compete with paul b's answer all i can say is go to an eye doctor thts y theyre there...for things like this