False myopia/temporary myopia: How to recognize?

The article was professionally consulted by an eye doctor - Department of Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital

Working a lot with computers or after a long exam period, many people have a feeling that their eyes are much worse. This could be a sign of false myopia or temporary nearsightedness.

False myopia is also considered a form of pathology. However, false myopia is not inherent but is only a transient disorder, with manifestations similar to normal myopia.
Pseudo-myopia is defined as a temporary, non-continuous change in the refractive ability of the eye, the image of an object when viewed will converge in front of the retina like true myopia. This phenomenon is explained by transient contraction of the ciliary body, which increases the refractive power of the eye.

Temporary refractive error or nearsightedness is divided into two types: organic pseudo-myopia or functional pseudo-myopia.
The entity form occurs due to overstimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system. The mechanical form occurs as a result of visual fatigue or temporary eye discomfort. Both types of these false myopia are very common in people who often work for too long, require a lot of eye adjustment or students during stressful exam preparation time.

In fact, after a stressful period of studying for exams, the eyes begin to feel sore, teary, the ability to see far is worse and often have to squint to see. .
However, the first time people with false myopia wear glasses, they will see better, but after 1-2 weeks of wearing glasses, they will feel eyestrain, eye pain, frequent headaches and see everything fade away. If the patient continues to try to wear glasses, this will make this situation last, the eyes have to adjust too much due to wearing glasses with the wrong number of degrees, leading to true myopia.
Signs of false myopia are mainly difficulties when taking notes after a long time working at close range or the phenomenon of visual fatigue and temporary improvement if wearing glasses. The fact that patients are subjective, do not go to the doctor but arbitrarily cut glasses to wear is the main cause of disease progression.

Distinguishing true myopia or false myopia for eye specialists is not too difficult. However, if patients with false myopia go to eyewear stores for on-the-spot examination and vision measurement, it can lead to incorrect diagnosis, causing many patients to become true myopia, increasing myopia. really after a long time wearing glasses.
Differential diagnosis of pseudomyopia is very simple, the doctor will instill a paralyzing drug such as Atropin or Cyclopegic to paralyze the ciliary body, reduce the accommodation capacity and the eyes will return to normal. When measuring glasses for people with myopia, astigmatism, before determining refractive error, eye drops to check are mandatory.

In case the patient has false myopia due to working at too close a distance, in this case, just instilling medication as prescribed by the doctor combined with rest and a reasonable diet will help the eyes return to normal. If the eyes are in severe form, the doctor will prescribe specialized glasses to help the adjustment process in the eyes be softer. Stop wearing glasses as soon as the eye has recovered. In order to avoid eye strain caused by working for a long time, every 1 hour, you should rest your eyes for 5-10 minutes with eye massage movements or look out into the blue spaces to relax your eyes. Need to keep a reasonable distance, optimal for the eyes and not look too close to the object. People over 50 years old should use additional functional foods for the eyes as prescribed by their doctor. Supplement the diet with foods rich in vitamins of all kinds such as: A, B, D... in food. Use eye drops to prevent eye fatigue and degeneration. False myopia is not difficult to treat, it is possible to regain 10/10 vision in a short time, but when not treated properly can lead to true myopia and many other dangerous consequences for the eyes. In young children, if children wear glasses while the child is only false myopia, it will easily cause amblyopia. In summary, false myopia (refractive error) is an accommodation disorder with unclear vision and clear vision after a few minutes of rest. And temporary myopia often occurs in old age due to poor elasticity of the lens (cataract) when the patient can see clearly near and far away. Therefore, when there are signs of eye abnormalities, patients should go to a specialist, classify myopia clearly for examination and eye care, to avoid possible dangerous complications.

Eye health care is an important part of general health. In order to detect the risk of eye diseases early, when there are abnormal signs in the eyes, the patient should go to the doctor to avoid dangerous developments leading to unfortunate consequences.
Eye specialist at Vinmec has comprehensive vision and eye health care functions for children, adults and the elderly including: refractive error check, laser treatment and surgery. In addition, the department also has the task of coordinating with other clinical departments in the treatment of pathological complications and eye injuries caused by accidents. In addition, the team of Ophthalmologists here are experienced doctors who have performed many types of surgery from routine to difficult surgery, especially techniques that require aesthetics. With enthusiasm and love for the profession, the team of doctors working at Vinmec always gives customers the best services with the highest service quality.
Currently, to improve service quality, Vinmec also deploys a refractive error screening package for many different subjects. If you have a need for consultation and examination at the Hospitals of the national health system, please book an appointment on the website for service.