Quick Answer
Not wearing prescribed glasses or contact lenses can potentially cause your vision to deteriorate over time in some cases, but doesn’t always guarantee your eyes will get weaker. If you have certain eye conditions like myopia, hyperopia or presbyopia, not wearing corrective lenses can cause your eyes to strain to focus, which may worsen the condition. However, for simpler vision problems like astigmatism or mild near/farsightedness, lack of correction may not make your eyes significantly worse.
What causes eyesight to get weaker?
There are various reasons your vision might decline over time, whether or not you wear glasses or contacts:
- Natural aging processes – As you get older, the lenses in your eyes lose elasticity and the muscles controlling focus weaken, making seeing up close more difficult (presbyopia). The retina and optic nerve may also deteriorate.
- Prolonged near work – Doing a lot of close-up activities like reading, sewing or computer work can cause near-sightedness (myopia) to develop or worsen over time. The eyes adapt to close focusing by elongating slightly.
- Genetics – Many common vision problems like nearsightedness, farsightedness (hyperopia) and astigmatism have genetic components that predispose you to developing them.
- Eye injuries or diseases – Trauma, infections and conditions like glaucoma or macular degeneration can damage the eyes and impair vision.
- Sun exposure – Chronic UV exposure increases risks for conditions like cataracts and macular degeneration later in life.
- Poor diet – Deficiencies in vitamins and nutrients can contribute to vision loss and degeneration.
- Excessive screen time – Long hours staring at digital screens may cause digital eye strain, but unclear if permanent damage occurs.
The degree to which any of these factors worsen your vision varies widely between individuals based on your genes, lifestyle, environment and general health.
When lack of correction can worsen eyesight
If you have certain refractive errors like nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hyperopia) or presbyopia, not wearing prescribed corrective lenses can potentially cause your vision to get worse over time.
Here’s why:
Myopia (nearsightedness)
– Caused by an elongated eye shape that makes distant objects look blurry.
– Eye straining to focus distant objects may lengthen the eye more.
– Undercorrection with glasses can promote lengthening.
– Myopia typically worsens gradually through childhood and adolescence.
Hyperopia (farsightedness)
– Caused by a shorter eye shape that makes close objects look blurry.
– Eye straining to focus nearby objects may shorten the eye more.
– Undercorrection can allow shortening to progress.
– Often worsens slightly through early adulthood.
Presbyopia
– Difficulty focusing on near objects due to natural loss of lens elasticity.
– Eye strain to compensate for diminished close-up focus can accelerate this decline.
– Typically becomes noticeable in your early 40s and worsens with age.
If you already have one of these conditions, under-correction with glasses or contacts allows excessive straining and focusing effort that can reinforce the misshapen optics of the eye, potentially making the vision problem gradually worse over months and years.
So getting an accurate eyeglasses or contact lens prescription and wearing them as directed is important for slowing or preventing progression of nearsightedness, farsightedness and age-related focusing problems. Children and teenagers in particular require monitoring for myopia progression.
When lack of correction may not worsen eyesight
For simpler refractive errors like mild near/farsightedness, astigmatism or distortion problems, lack of correction doesn’t necessarily make your eyes significantly worse.
Here’s why these conditions may remain stable without glasses or contacts:
Mild near/farsightedness
– If myopia or hyperopia is low degree, eye strain may not elongate or shorten the eye much.
– Glasses help eye comfort and function, but vision may not deteriorate much without.
Astigmatism
– Caused by irregular curvature rather than length of the eye.
– Straining doesn’t make the irregular shape much worse.
– Vision may remain stable without correction.
Distortion problems
– Conditions like keratoconus cause distorted vision but not nearsightedness or farsightedness.
– Eye straining doesn’t affect the shape or focus of the eyes much.
– Progression is usually slow and unaffected by correction.
Of course it’s still a good idea to wear prescribed lenses even for milder refractive errors, since they reduce eye fatigue and compensate for focus issues. But in these cases, lack of correction is less likely to cause your vision to deteriorate significantly over time.
Other factors that may influence effects of undercorrection
Whether undercorrection makes your visual acuity worse depends on additional factors like:
– Degree of refractive error – The worse your uncorrected eyesight, the more straining is needed to see clearly. High myopia/hyperopia worsens more without glasses.
– Age – Younger eyes have more ability to focus and compensate. Older eyes deteriorate faster.
– Time without correction – The temporary effects of eye strain are different from permanent worsening over months/years.
– Amount of close work – More sustained reading or screen time promotes nearsighted progression.
– Outdoors time – Chronic sunlight exposure appears protective for myopia progression.
– Individual variation – The “focus range” of the eye and susceptibility to change differs between people.
So the risks of undercorrection or no correction vary for each person and situation. Those with severe nearsightedness/farsightedness or presbyopia and a predisposition for progression have the most potential for long-term decline without lenses.
Options for minimizing progression of myopia
For those concerned about their myopia or nearsightedness worsening over time, these options may help slow progression with or without glasses:
– Get yearly eye exams to detect any worsening ASAP.
– Wear glasses/contacts full-time or for prolonged near work.
– Limit near activities like reading, screens, etc. Take frequent breaks.
– Spend more time outdoors in natural light.
– Try specialty contact lenses or orthokeratology to flatten the cornea overnight.
– Request lower-strength myopia control lenses if eligible.
– Maintain healthy nutrition and sleep habits to avoid eye fatigue.
– Start myopia control early, such as age 6-12 years old.
While no guarantees, these proactive measures give you the best chance at stabilizing nearsighted progression and maintaining good vision long-term.
Conclusion
Whether lack of glasses correction worsens your vision depends on the specific eye or focus issues you have:
– For nearsightedness, farsightedness and presbyopia, NOT wearing prescribed lenses can contribute to gradual decline in visual acuity over time. Corrective lenses help minimize eye strain that reinforces these issues.
– For simpler problems like astigmatism and mild near/farsightedness, progression is unlikely to be significantly affected by wearing or not wearing glasses. However, correction still improves comfort and visual functioning.
– Many factors like your age, activities and genetics influence your risk of visual deterioration with or without lenses. Yearly eye exams are crucial for monitoring changes.
– Options like specialty contacts, more outdoor time and vision therapy may also slow worsening, along with getting an accurate prescription and wearing it regularly.
So while glasses won’t strengthen your eyes, they often play an important role in maintaining your best vision longer and preventing problems from advancing. Work with your eye doctor to find the right vision correction strategy for your needs and degree of refractive error. Consistent lens wear combined with healthy habits provides optimal eye health and acuity over your lifetime.
References
| Source | Key Points on Lack of Correction and Vision Deterioration |
| American Academy of Ophthalmology | – Undercorrected myopia linked to faster progression in children. Full correction slows myopia. – Uncorrected hyperopia causes focus strain and steepening of the cornea. |
| American Optometric Association | – Myopia control important for slowing progression. – No conclusive evidence uncorrected astigmatism worsens. |
| Optometry and Vision Science | – Modeling review shows potential for undercorrection to promote myopia progression. |
| British Journal of Ophthalmology | – Partial correction was less effective for slowing pediatric myopia than full correction. |
