Refractive error

Will my eyes be damaged by wearing the wrong glasses?

No. Wearing the wrong glasses will cause blurry vision while they are worn and may make your eyes feel uncomfortable, but it will not damage your eyes.

It is important however that children do not wear the wrong glasses as this may affect the development of their eyes. If you have any concerns about your child’s eyes you should take your child to see an eye health professional without delay.

Are ready made glasses harmful to your eyes?

No. Ready made glasses can be very useful to assist with near vision problems. They may not improve your vision as much as your true prescription will and you should still visit your eye health professional when using ready made glasses to ensure any eye disease is detected at an early stage.

I used to have good vision, but now my eyes are ‘bad’. Why can’t I see to read without glasses anymore?

As we get older, just as our hair goes grey as part of the ageing process, the lens inside the eye slowly becomes inelastic and does not focus on near objects like it did when we were younger.

The need to wear reading glasses is a normal part of ageing and it does not mean that your eyes are unhealthy. However, as the incidence of eye disease increases as we get older, this is a natural ‘trigger’ for you to have a complete eye examination with an eye health professional to rule out conditions that may cause problems later in life if they are undetected.