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Short-sightedness: Does it have another name?

myopia is another name for nearsightedness

Another name for short-sightedness is: myopia. In many parts of the world, the words myopia and short-sightedness are used interchangeably. Near-sightedness is another synonym for short-sightedness. This is an American term that's used in the USA and some other countries in that region.

Myopia is the medical term for the condition, and the other two are commonly used names.

If you're into etymology (the study of the origin of words), the term myopia comes from Greek word roots that mean "to close the eyes." This is a reference to the primary sign that a person is short-sighted: squinting.

Myopia causes distant objects to look blurry until they are close to the eyes. The main signs and symptoms of myopia include: 

People who are myopic may have difficulty recognising faces across a room or reading road signs while driving. 

Children who are becoming short-sighted will have trouble reading the blackboard or whiteboard in their classrooms. They may need to sit near the front of the room to see it clearly. 

People who are myopic may also notice problems when playing certain sports. This is especially true if it requires good distance vision. For example, it can be very difficult to squarely hit a cricket ball if it looks blurry until the last moment!

When looking at the eye chart during an eye exam, short-sighted people will have reduced visual acuity. In other words, they can only make out the larger letters near the top of the chart, not the small letters near the bottom. 

Their visual acuity might be recorded as 6/12, 6/18, 6/24 or some other fraction. This is because they are only able to see larger letters at 6 metres, while someone with 6/6 (20/20 when we used feet as a measurement) vision can see them at 12, 18 or 24 metres away. 

Thankfully, blurry vision from short-sightedness can usually be corrected. Prescription glasses and contact lenses are very common methods for correcting myopia. 

Refractive surgery like LASIK is also common. However, refractive surgery is only recommended for adults whose myopia prescription has stabilised.

Myopia usually begins in childhood because of this, many short-sighted kids think their blurry vision is normal. This is one reason eye exams are very important, even if your children aren't complaining of vision problems.

Optoemtrists recommend childrens eye exams at 6 months of age, 3 years old, and every 2 years once children begin school.

School-based programme to address childhood myopia in Singapore. Singapore Medical Journal. February 2021. 

Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline: Comprehensive Pediatric Eye and Vision Examination. American Optometric Association. February 2017.

The correlation between headache and refractive errors. Journal of American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus. March 2008. 

Ametropia in children with headache. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences. May - June 2019.

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