6 practices that stop myopia naturally

See blurry from afar, but good up close. The nearsighted man without his glasses is lost on the beach in summer: the world seems like a blur of colors.

Myopia is the most widespread visual defect, so much so that it has been declared by the WHO the fifth leading cause of blindness in the world and in some Asian countries it affects up to 70% of the student population.

Myopia appears due to our life in indoor spaces

Most of myopias are the result of our adaptation to the current “civilized” environment. Therefore, it can be said that industrialized cultures around the world are creating myopia.

At birth, the child is usually slightly farsighted and their sight regularizes until they are 6 years old, when the eye is considered to be practically an adult and with normal vision.

In this process (emmetropization), natural and common in animals, the structure of the eye changes according to the images it receives to provide clear vision at a distance.

How to prevent and stop it

There are several things you can do to prevent it from developing or further progressing:

1. Frequent open spaces

Because the process of emmetropization It lasts until after adolescence and since visual stimuli in near vision prevail today, the eye tends to adapt to work at close range.

To do this, it increases in size by lengthening, which allows a near vision correct but blurry from afar. This elongation thins the retina, with which the pathologies associated with it increase exponentially.

We know that open spaces, sunlight and perhaps practicing a sport in the open air are protective elements for the appearance or evolution of myopia.

The role of the sun and the vitamin D, but there are studies that indicate a deficiency of this vitamin in myopic children.

2. Take care of the diet

Since the structure of the eye is based on collagen, the collagen-strengthening nutrients body could be useful. In this sense, it would be advisable to consume foods rich in magnesium and selenium, as well as vitamin C.

Lack of vitamin E and protein deficiency it has also been linked to the progression of myopia in children. And since sugar alters the balance of minerals in the body (causes copper and chromium deficiencies and interferes with the absorption of calcium and magnesium) its excess should also be avoided.

In general, follow a balanced diet based on unprocessed foodsfruit, vegetables and nuts is suitable in this case, as well as for health in general.

3. Try ortho-k contact lenses

to see well, the lateral or peripheral retina it is extremely important. But due to the stretching of the eyeball in the myopic eye, it receives blurry lateral images even when the fovea (the central area of ​​sharp vision) is in focus.

The blurring of the image activates the ocular growth process to try to refocus the eye and produces more myopia.

Since common glasses do not adequately correct the peripheral image, new correction systems have been developed that do and allow the eye does not enlarge. These are basically contact lenses: daytime wear lenses with power gradient or multifocal lenses and orthokeratology or ortho-k.

Ortho-k lenses are put on at night

The ortho-k is a technique that uses contact lenses only to sleep in order to correct the curvature of the cornea. It has its origins in the 60s, when the first rigid contact lenses appeared. American optometrists realized that people who used these lenses, when they returned to the following consultations, had less diopters than at the beginning.

So they devised a methodology to take advantage of that effect. However, in its beginnings with this technique it was only possible to correct a diopter and a half approx.

In the 1990s, with the new materials already permeable to the passage of oxygen, inverse geometry lenses appeared, precursors of the current ones. From that moment on, ortho-k became relevant, since it allows wearing a special lens while sleepingwithout any hassle.

During the day, due to lens-induced molding of the corneagrants a visual freedom that ordinary contact lenses or glasses do not provide, in addition to exerting the so important control or brake on the progression of myopia.

In cases where these lenses cannot be used, there are other systems that help control myopia, such as bifocal glasses, although they have limited effectiveness.

4. Visual exercises

The visual exercises Bates method or optometric vision therapy They can also have a slowing down or enhancing effect, especially by improving the brain’s ability to analyze and process images.

While it is possible to reduce the amount of nearsightedness relaxing the ciliary musclethe one that is inside the eye and allows focus), most of the improvement corresponds to the perceptive part, to visual acuity.

5. Good daily habits

The most important thing is daily habits. That’s why it’s basicor develop appropriate behavior take care of vision In this sense, it is vital:

respect the working distance.Establish regular breaks.use a good lighting.

The myopic tends to spend more hours than other people reading, looking at the computer or working closely. In fact, myopic children tend to be more introverted and have a tendency to play less.

This overfocusing of the eyes it causes the ciliary muscle to have a higher muscle tone and, apart from producing the need for greater correction, it prevents normal and correct relaxation when looking from a distance again.

6. Relax your eyes, look into the distance

That is why it is necessary to counteract the time spent looking closely with periods outdoors and voluntarily relaxing the eyes looking from afar. In this sense, make guided visual exercises can significantly improve these eye muscle tensions.

The eyes are basically in charge of send the information to the cortex And while it is important that the image received on the retina be as sharp as possible, the true image we see is the one that forms inside our head.

Therefore, relax the eyes and mind and induce calm or meditative states It allows our mind to work better and generate better images.

Besides, perceptive ability can be trainedso that although much of the visual exercises are based on improving focus or relax the muscles Another highly important aspect is the ability to efficiently process visual perception.