7 ms·

How to maintain good vision amidst the myopia epidemic

73 points by plun9 11mo ago

nntwozz 11mo ago
I wonder what effects VR and AR will have on this.
- plun9 11mo ago
  Same. Hopefully AR/VR and other display technologies will mitigate myopia.
  - porphyra 11mo ago
    Why was this downvoted? VR shows an image at infinity which is much better than other display technologies, and new technologies like micro LED chips can be super bright and even rival the outdoors. Together, both hypotheses regarding myopia are addressed.
    - theshackleford 11mo ago
      > VR shows an image at infinity Most are in fact measured in feet, and only quite a few at that. Still better than being measured in centimeters however.
- walterbell 11mo ago
  Head worn glasses simulate infinity/distance, so they do not impose focus or convergence stress on the eye. Viture glasses ship with adjustable myopia optical correction to -5.00D (no cylinder), or they have an optional frame for custom prescriptions.
jaggederest 11mo ago
Article misses the mark a little bit. "Outdoors" preventing myopia isn't about focusing distance, it's about light levels. Dimmer light makes the eye think it isn't done growing, so it grows more. You can replicate those light levels indoors, if you're bloody minded enough to do so. It's somewhat expensive but for a tech-enabled crowd not too difficult. You need about 10x to 100x the lighting most people are satisfied with indoors, and you need to turn it on whenever you're in the room and leave it on between sunrise and sunset. This is easiest with timers and automation. The most important thing about all of this is to realize that children NEED outdoor recess sometime between the hours of 10am and 2pm every day. They don't have to be directly exposed to the sun, but they need to be in an environment with >1000 lux, more is generally better, for a number of hours. This will prevent their growing eyes from continuing to grow indefinitely. We know this because there was an intervention in Taiwan, which has extremely high myopia levels in children (80%+ last I heard), and it dropped myopia from ~80% to ~35% in the intervention group. That's an astounding effectiveness for something free.
- joak 11mo ago
  Interesting, it seems really likely that more light indoors should be good. Do you have a reference, a scientific study on the topic? Thanks!
  - jaggederest 11mo ago
    Here's a couple from a random search for the convenience of the forum: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29371008/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29371008/ https://reviewofmm.com/light-as-a-tool-for-myopia-control/ https://reviewofmm.com/light-as-a-tool-for-myopia-control/ I can't find the site that I read a while ago, it was very similar to the myticker.com site that was posted the other day for heart disease but focused on myopia.
    - devinplatt 11mo ago
      Thanks for sharing this! I've never heard of this research, but it sounds very promising. I also found this Guardian article from a Google search: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/01/shortsighted-taiwan-may-have-lessons-for-the-world-as-a-preventable-disease-skyrockets https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/01/shortsighted-t...
  - walterbell 11mo ago
    It's difficult for artificial light to compete with full-spectrum natural daylight from an infinitely distant light source (sun). See previous attempts at sunlight simulation indoors.
- SoftTalker 11mo ago
  I have fairly bad myopia (-6) and I was outside a lot as a kid. I don’t buy this argument, at least not universally.
  - alanbernstein 11mo ago
    Practically nothing in health science is universal, your anecdote does not disprove anything.
Wistar 11mo ago
Hmm. I am 67 and require no corrective lenses. Two years ago, at my last exam, the doctor said I was “the one percent of the one percent of people” my age that do not require glasses. All of my siblings and both of my parents wore glasses. Most of my professional life has been spent staring at screens, usually in darkened rooms, so I have no idea why my sight is still good.
- zdw 11mo ago
  Interesting that you didn't get age related presbyopia and needed reading glasses as a result. It's one of the more annoying things about getting older, if you didn't need glasses before sometime in your 40's.
  - walterbell 11mo ago
    Left to their own devices (i.e. without external lens adjustments), one aging eye can specialize in closeup and the other in distance. This will lead to monocular vision that is functional for both distance and closeup. This separation can be assisted by corrective lens. Vision therapy: https://raygottlieb.com/presbyopia https://raygottlieb.com/presbyopia Expensive progressive glasses have neurological impact, not just optical. Better to use separate distance and reading glasses which manipulate only optics, and provide the brain with a physical signal of "mode" change.
  - Wistar 11mo ago
    I don’t need or use reading glasses. I have tried some +1.0 readers but they quickly cause me vertigo.
- WalterBright 11mo ago
  I've worn glasses since I was 6. At least 3 times my glasses have saved me from eye injury.
  - gerdesj 11mo ago
    Us four eyes are wearing safety goggles all the time. I would probably prefer perfect vision instead but blindness avoided is a blessing.
walterbell 11mo ago
> In my opinion, it’s too early, too ambiguous, and the jury is out on whether myopia can actually be reversed. We do need studies on if/why/how myopia reduction works for some people. However, we already know a guaranteed way to increase myopia: 1. Wear corrective lens for 20/20 vision for distant objects, e.g. driver license vision test. 2. Keep wearing distance lens for closeup, e.g. phone at 12". 3. Keep wearing distance lens for near work, e.g. book or laptop at 24". 4. Keep wearing distance lens for intermediate, e.g. monitor at 36". 5. Eye adapts (more myopia) to get 20/20 vision at daily focusing distance, e.g. work laptop. 6. Optometrist measures that distance correction with lens is now worse than 20/20. 7. Optometrist increases distance correction to get back to 20/20, for legal (e.g. driving) compliance. 8. Go to Step 1. This loop can be broken by measuring the distance in #5 and buying dedicated lens/contacts for that distance. This reduces the burden on both eye and brain.
- ranger_danger 11mo ago
  How does one "buy dedicated lenses for that distance"? The distance between my eyeballs and my screen is 28 inches, but I do not know how to translate this into what to buy.
  - walterbell 11mo ago
    Ask optometrist for "intermediate lens" prescription for the distance of your screen. Ask optician to customize the intermediate/computer glasses for your work posture, e.g. looking straight ahead (monitor) or down (laptop). For those with more time than money, learn from opticians at https://www.optiboard.com/forums/ https://www.optiboard.com/forums/ before ordering online.
  - gwbas1c 11mo ago
    "Cheaters": Get the lowest power reading glasses they sell at the drug store. You can also order 0.75 diopter glasses on Amazon that work real well.
  - Aerbil313 11mo ago
    The formula is: your prescription - (100 / desired distance in cm). For your PC that sits one meter away from your eyes, you'd need to subtract 1 from your real degree of myopia, e.g. for -4 degree myopia, get glasses that are -3. Don't forget to calculate individually for each eye. As a matter of fact I'm using glasses I bought this way right now. I actually find these even more comfortable than my full degree glasses for all-day use too, in terms of eye strain. I feel it's ridiculous that the medical industry thinks I need to wear glasses that are powerful enough to focus an image of a mountain 100 kms away all day, when my average focus distance throughout the day is probably less than one meter. These reduced degree glasses are called differentials. If you want to go into the rabbit hole of fixing your myopia, start here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPIGDSY_xBs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPIGDSY_xBs Disclaimer: When driving, you have to obviously wear your full prescription glasses.
modeless 11mo ago
This article is written in a way that will propagate the myth that screens are bad for your eyes. Screens are not uniquely bad. The myopia epidemic is not caused by screens per se, but by a lack of time outdoors during childhood. What is it about time outdoors that prevents myopia? It is some combination of much brighter light, broader light spectrum, and objects in your peripheral vision being farther away. I don't think it is fully known yet which of these factors is most important, and I am skeptical of claims that one in particular is to blame over the others. But ultimately some combination of these factors provides the signal to your retina to stop growing once it reaches the right size, which prevents myopia. As long as you get a few hours outdoors most days during childhood, it doesn't really matter (from the perspective of myopia prevention) if you spend your indoor time in front of a screen or not. And if you don't get that outdoor time, avoiding screens won't save you from myopia. Screens are not really relevant here except to the extent that they encourage children to spend less time outside. You could just as easily blame HVAC or other conveniences of modern homes that make it nicer to stay inside.
- plun9 11mo ago
  It could be both. And focus distance may matter. Like, books may also cause myopia. Reading books outdoors may be a bit better than reading books indoors. Using screens at a distance could also be benign.
- ericbarrett 11mo ago
  I keep hearing this, but I spent a lot of time outdoors as a child. Hours every day, riding bikes with friends and running around with BB guns in the woods. We played a lot of video games and read books, too, but we spent plenty of time making tree forts and "sword fighting" with old pipes. Still needed glasses by the age of 7.
  - modeless 11mo ago
    Obviously, genetics also plays a role in individual cases. We're talking about the population level here, and genetics doesn't explain the myopia epidemic, because population-level genetics hasn't changed rapidly. Time outdoors has.
deleted 11mo ago
[deleted]
EiZei 11mo ago
Spending a couple thousand on LASIK was the best investment I’ve ever made. The money I’ve saved on prescription glasses alone has already paid for lot of it, and ten years later my distance vision is still nearly perfect. Now only if there was a similar procedure for my neck and posture..
mensetmanusman 11mo ago
Try to experience an hour of 10,000 nits outdoor brightness per day.
gwbas1c 11mo ago
I just purchased some computer glasses that are optimized for about 38 inches. (A little short of a meter.) I get no eyestrain, and looking far away isn't awful.
kkfx 11mo ago
Filtering glasses and large screen staying at distance is the answer
- plun9 11mo ago
  I never wore filtering glasses. Using screens at a distance made a big difference for me.
formichunter 11mo ago
Genetically, I've dealt with myopia on the -2.x range most of my life till I had lasik around 20 years ago. However, now my eyes have diverged in the weirdest of ways. I have 20/20 in my right eye but can't read up close - due to being in my late 40's - and my left eye can read up close but I have around 20/80 for near-sightedness. I guess it's "good" I can handle any situation with one of the eyes but playing pool with depth perception sucks! Anyway, I have a new problem this article never mentioned. Floaters. My left eye is full of them and reading anything with these blobs blocking my vision is a game of moving my eye so it "shakes" things up so I can read where it was blocked. I have not found a therapy for it. Floaters is protein waste broken off in the eye and mine never settle to bottom of the eye. Don't take your vision for granted.
ewgoforth 11mo ago
Or you could wait until you get into your 40s and your eyes will naturally become far-sighted.
- plun9 11mo ago
  Will they? How come?

73 points by plun9 11mo ago

nntwozz 11mo ago

I wonder what effects VR and AR will have on this.

plun9 11mo ago
Same. Hopefully AR/VR and other display technologies will mitigate myopia.
- porphyra 11mo ago
  Why was this downvoted? VR shows an image at infinity which is much better than other display technologies, and new technologies like micro LED chips can be super bright and even rival the outdoors. Together, both hypotheses regarding myopia are addressed.
  - theshackleford 11mo ago
    > VR shows an image at infinity Most are in fact measured in feet, and only quite a few at that. Still better than being measured in centimeters however.
walterbell 11mo ago
Head worn glasses simulate infinity/distance, so they do not impose focus or convergence stress on the eye. Viture glasses ship with adjustable myopia optical correction to -5.00D (no cylinder), or they have an optional frame for custom prescriptions.

jaggederest 11mo ago

Article misses the mark a little bit. "Outdoors" preventing myopia isn't about focusing distance, it's about light levels. Dimmer light makes the eye think it isn't done growing, so it grows more. You can replicate those light levels indoors, if you're bloody minded enough to do so. It's somewhat expensive but for a tech-enabled crowd not too difficult. You need about 10x to 100x the lighting most people are satisfied with indoors, and you need to turn it on whenever you're in the room and leave it on between sunrise and sunset. This is easiest with timers and automation. The most important thing about all of this is to realize that children NEED outdoor recess sometime between the hours of 10am and 2pm every day. They don't have to be directly exposed to the sun, but they need to be in an environment with >1000 lux, more is generally better, for a number of hours. This will prevent their growing eyes from continuing to grow indefinitely. We know this because there was an intervention in Taiwan, which has extremely high myopia levels in children (80%+ last I heard), and it dropped myopia from ~80% to ~35% in the intervention group. That's an astounding effectiveness for something free.

joak 11mo ago
Interesting, it seems really likely that more light indoors should be good. Do you have a reference, a scientific study on the topic? Thanks!
- jaggederest 11mo ago
  Here's a couple from a random search for the convenience of the forum: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29371008/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29371008/ https://reviewofmm.com/light-as-a-tool-for-myopia-control/ https://reviewofmm.com/light-as-a-tool-for-myopia-control/ I can't find the site that I read a while ago, it was very similar to the myticker.com site that was posted the other day for heart disease but focused on myopia.
  - devinplatt 11mo ago
    Thanks for sharing this! I've never heard of this research, but it sounds very promising. I also found this Guardian article from a Google search: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/01/shortsighted-taiwan-may-have-lessons-for-the-world-as-a-preventable-disease-skyrockets https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/01/shortsighted-t...
- walterbell 11mo ago
  It's difficult for artificial light to compete with full-spectrum natural daylight from an infinitely distant light source (sun). See previous attempts at sunlight simulation indoors.
SoftTalker 11mo ago
I have fairly bad myopia (-6) and I was outside a lot as a kid. I don’t buy this argument, at least not universally.
- alanbernstein 11mo ago
  Practically nothing in health science is universal, your anecdote does not disprove anything.

Wistar 11mo ago

Hmm. I am 67 and require no corrective lenses. Two years ago, at my last exam, the doctor said I was “the one percent of the one percent of people” my age that do not require glasses. All of my siblings and both of my parents wore glasses. Most of my professional life has been spent staring at screens, usually in darkened rooms, so I have no idea why my sight is still good.

zdw 11mo ago
Interesting that you didn't get age related presbyopia and needed reading glasses as a result. It's one of the more annoying things about getting older, if you didn't need glasses before sometime in your 40's.
- walterbell 11mo ago
  Left to their own devices (i.e. without external lens adjustments), one aging eye can specialize in closeup and the other in distance. This will lead to monocular vision that is functional for both distance and closeup. This separation can be assisted by corrective lens. Vision therapy: https://raygottlieb.com/presbyopia https://raygottlieb.com/presbyopia Expensive progressive glasses have neurological impact, not just optical. Better to use separate distance and reading glasses which manipulate only optics, and provide the brain with a physical signal of "mode" change.
- Wistar 11mo ago
  I don’t need or use reading glasses. I have tried some +1.0 readers but they quickly cause me vertigo.
WalterBright 11mo ago
I've worn glasses since I was 6. At least 3 times my glasses have saved me from eye injury.
- gerdesj 11mo ago
  Us four eyes are wearing safety goggles all the time. I would probably prefer perfect vision instead but blindness avoided is a blessing.

walterbell 11mo ago

> In my opinion, it’s too early, too ambiguous, and the jury is out on whether myopia can actually be reversed. We do need studies on if/why/how myopia reduction works for some people. However, we already know a guaranteed way to increase myopia: 1. Wear corrective lens for 20/20 vision for distant objects, e.g. driver license vision test. 2. Keep wearing distance lens for closeup, e.g. phone at 12". 3. Keep wearing distance lens for near work, e.g. book or laptop at 24". 4. Keep wearing distance lens for intermediate, e.g. monitor at 36". 5. Eye adapts (more myopia) to get 20/20 vision at daily focusing distance, e.g. work laptop. 6. Optometrist measures that distance correction with lens is now worse than 20/20. 7. Optometrist increases distance correction to get back to 20/20, for legal (e.g. driving) compliance. 8. Go to Step 1. This loop can be broken by measuring the distance in #5 and buying dedicated lens/contacts for that distance. This reduces the burden on both eye and brain.

ranger_danger 11mo ago
How does one "buy dedicated lenses for that distance"? The distance between my eyeballs and my screen is 28 inches, but I do not know how to translate this into what to buy.
- walterbell 11mo ago
  Ask optometrist for "intermediate lens" prescription for the distance of your screen. Ask optician to customize the intermediate/computer glasses for your work posture, e.g. looking straight ahead (monitor) or down (laptop). For those with more time than money, learn from opticians at https://www.optiboard.com/forums/ https://www.optiboard.com/forums/ before ordering online.
- gwbas1c 11mo ago
  "Cheaters": Get the lowest power reading glasses they sell at the drug store. You can also order 0.75 diopter glasses on Amazon that work real well.
- Aerbil313 11mo ago
  The formula is: your prescription - (100 / desired distance in cm). For your PC that sits one meter away from your eyes, you'd need to subtract 1 from your real degree of myopia, e.g. for -4 degree myopia, get glasses that are -3. Don't forget to calculate individually for each eye. As a matter of fact I'm using glasses I bought this way right now. I actually find these even more comfortable than my full degree glasses for all-day use too, in terms of eye strain. I feel it's ridiculous that the medical industry thinks I need to wear glasses that are powerful enough to focus an image of a mountain 100 kms away all day, when my average focus distance throughout the day is probably less than one meter. These reduced degree glasses are called differentials. If you want to go into the rabbit hole of fixing your myopia, start here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPIGDSY_xBs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPIGDSY_xBs Disclaimer: When driving, you have to obviously wear your full prescription glasses.

modeless 11mo ago

This article is written in a way that will propagate the myth that screens are bad for your eyes. Screens are not uniquely bad. The myopia epidemic is not caused by screens per se, but by a lack of time outdoors during childhood. What is it about time outdoors that prevents myopia? It is some combination of much brighter light, broader light spectrum, and objects in your peripheral vision being farther away. I don't think it is fully known yet which of these factors is most important, and I am skeptical of claims that one in particular is to blame over the others. But ultimately some combination of these factors provides the signal to your retina to stop growing once it reaches the right size, which prevents myopia. As long as you get a few hours outdoors most days during childhood, it doesn't really matter (from the perspective of myopia prevention) if you spend your indoor time in front of a screen or not. And if you don't get that outdoor time, avoiding screens won't save you from myopia. Screens are not really relevant here except to the extent that they encourage children to spend less time outside. You could just as easily blame HVAC or other conveniences of modern homes that make it nicer to stay inside.

plun9 11mo ago
It could be both. And focus distance may matter. Like, books may also cause myopia. Reading books outdoors may be a bit better than reading books indoors. Using screens at a distance could also be benign.
ericbarrett 11mo ago
I keep hearing this, but I spent a lot of time outdoors as a child. Hours every day, riding bikes with friends and running around with BB guns in the woods. We played a lot of video games and read books, too, but we spent plenty of time making tree forts and "sword fighting" with old pipes. Still needed glasses by the age of 7.
- modeless 11mo ago
  Obviously, genetics also plays a role in individual cases. We're talking about the population level here, and genetics doesn't explain the myopia epidemic, because population-level genetics hasn't changed rapidly. Time outdoors has.

deleted 11mo ago

[deleted]

EiZei 11mo ago

Spending a couple thousand on LASIK was the best investment I’ve ever made. The money I’ve saved on prescription glasses alone has already paid for lot of it, and ten years later my distance vision is still nearly perfect. Now only if there was a similar procedure for my neck and posture..

mensetmanusman 11mo ago

Try to experience an hour of 10,000 nits outdoor brightness per day.

gwbas1c 11mo ago

I just purchased some computer glasses that are optimized for about 38 inches. (A little short of a meter.) I get no eyestrain, and looking far away isn't awful.

kkfx 11mo ago

Filtering glasses and large screen staying at distance is the answer

plun9 11mo ago
I never wore filtering glasses. Using screens at a distance made a big difference for me.

formichunter 11mo ago

Genetically, I've dealt with myopia on the -2.x range most of my life till I had lasik around 20 years ago. However, now my eyes have diverged in the weirdest of ways. I have 20/20 in my right eye but can't read up close - due to being in my late 40's - and my left eye can read up close but I have around 20/80 for near-sightedness. I guess it's "good" I can handle any situation with one of the eyes but playing pool with depth perception sucks! Anyway, I have a new problem this article never mentioned. Floaters. My left eye is full of them and reading anything with these blobs blocking my vision is a game of moving my eye so it "shakes" things up so I can read where it was blocked. I have not found a therapy for it. Floaters is protein waste broken off in the eye and mine never settle to bottom of the eye. Don't take your vision for granted.

ewgoforth 11mo ago

Or you could wait until you get into your 40s and your eyes will naturally become far-sighted.

plun9 11mo ago
Will they? How come?