Busting 10 Eye Related Myths

We have grown surrounded by myths. Do you remember how parents would lie about some boogeyman or fairy or whatever to make us go to sleep? You believe them for a long time as you thought them to be true. The truth about Santa Claus doesn’t settle well, folks. Remember growing up believing Santa giving you gifts, but those gifts were tucked by your parents.

There are many myths that we didn’t know were myths. Some are silly enough to even believe. We would see if we question ourselves enough. There are many myths about eyes too. And we accept them as if they are facts, like how we believe glasses can improve eyesight. Prescription glasses only correct your vision and does not improve your eyesight even after wearing them for a long time.

Let’s check out what are myths and what are actual facts are.

#1 Babies are born with blue eyes.

No, it’s a myth. In the initial hours of a baby’s birth, its eyes might appear blue. It’s because of a lack of melanin. After some time, pigments start to form and darken their irises.

#2 Babies are born with fully grown eyes.

It’s a myth. The eyes of babies appear prominent and look as if they have entirely grown. It is not the truth. The eyes are only developed two-thirds of their adult size. You can find the eyes still grow in early childhood and at puberty.

#3 Brown eyed parents cannot have a blue-eyed baby.

A child’s eye colour cannot be determined by the eye colour of the parents. There are sixteen genes responsible for the eye colour of the eyes. Eyes can be of any colour. You can not determine the eye colour at all from the eye colour of the parents.

#4 Carrots for eyes

Moms can go to lengths to feed their children carrots. Why? Because carrots are good for the eyes. Well, not entirely. Vitamin A is good for the eyes. So anything with Vitamin A would be good for the eyes. Eating carrots will not magically cure weak eyesight. It helps in keeping the vision as it is to some extent. Eating healthy food like carrots cannot prevent weak eyesight.

#5 Benefits of eye exercises

Doing eye exercises are good, but their benefits are a little overexaggerated. Doing eye exercise can give you relief from eye strain, headache and other such vision issues. But it cannot cure your eyesight.

Eye alignment or convergence issues can be corrected with eye exercises, but your weak eyesight cannot turn back to perfect without any surgery.

#6 Only men can be colourblind

More men are colourblind than women. 1 out of 12 men are colourblind as compared to 1 out of 200 women. Colourblindness can be from the birth itself. There is a low number of cones or a complete lack of them in the retina. These help in seeing different colours. Colourblindness also occur later in life because of some trauma or disease.

The most common colourblindness is the inability to see the difference between green and red. Most colourblind people see partial colours. It is rare for someone to see things in shades of grey or in black and white.

#7 Sitting close to tv can weaken your eyesight

Sitting close to the television screen or computer screen does not harm your eyes. They can give your eye strain and fatigue because of the excess blue lights emitted from them. Prolong exposure to blue light gives you blurry visions, headaches or dry eyes. Working long hours on computers or watching television can tire your eyes and cause eye pain. It does not weaken your eyes.

#8 Reading in dim light can make your eyes go bad

Having proper light to see can give you a clearer vision. Reading in dim light can strain your eyes. The lighting does not precisely weaken your eyesight. The straining does. You can see clearly even in the dark, but it puts pressure on your eyes.

#9 Learning disabilities are caused because of eye problems

No, learning disabilities are not caused by eye problems. They can contribute to many learning troubles, but they are not a cause of learning disabilities. Learning disability is related to how the brain perceives the sent signal. How you see and hear things and makes sense out of it. This disability affects the ability to understand or use spoken language, doing mathematical calculations, coordinate movements, etc.

If you have had poor eyesight since childhood, you see things differently and perceive them differently. It doesn’t affect your learning.

Many times, poor vision can be mistaken for a learning disability. Wearing proper eyeglasses can correct vision, and the learning troubles can be eliminated.

For instance, a child with astigmatism will have some issues while reading, easily mistaken for any learning disability.

#10 Ageing leads to vision loss

With ageing, you go through a lot of health issues, including vision loss. However, it is not inevitable. With regular eye tests, vision loss can be stopped. You are more susceptible to eye diseases because of age, leading to vision loss in later stages. But with proper treatment, wearing glasses can help with keeping eyesight for a long time.