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These two conditions are caused when the shape of the eye is distorted, being either longer or shorter than it should be, or a deformed lens. Short sightedness (myopia) is caused by an elongated eyeball or a thick lens causing light coming in to be focused in front of the retina instead of on the retina itself. This causes images at a distance to appear blurred. This can be corrected with glasses for everyday use. These glasses will probably not be needed for reading or other close work. Short sightedness can also be corrected by laser surgery, reshaping the lens to focus the light on the retina. Long sightedness (hypermetropia) is caused by a shortened eyeball or a thin lens which focuses light behind the retina leading to close up images being blurred. This can be corrected with glasses for reading and other detail work. The glasses will probably not be needed for distance vision. Long and short sightedness is not classed as a vision impairment as it can be corrected by glasses or contact lenses. If it cannot be corrected, it is classed as a vision impairment. Return to Vision Impairments Return to Dogs, Canes and Talking Microwaves main page Go to Association for the Blind of WA |