What is pseudomyopia?

Dear Doc,

Whenever I wear my glasses I tend to want to take them off after a short while. The funny thing is that I do see a bit better with the glasses, but soon they tend to make me feel uncomfortable.

I cannot put my finger on it, but something must be wrong. In addition, sometimes I see clearly and sometimes I don’t. I am shortsighted.

What does this all mean?

Worried

Dear Worried,

Thank you for the question. I believe you may be suffering from Pseudomyopia.

In Latin, Pseudo means “false”, and Myopia means “Nearsighted”. So Pseudomyopia would mean “falsely nearsighted”.

It is more common than you think. Myopia ( nearsightedness) generally means that one cannot see very well in the distance, however if your vision fluctuates (see things clearly in the distance sometimes and other times not), then it may not be myopia.

It may be pseudomyopia.Focusing for too long at near can lead to muscular contractions and show up as headaches and eyestrain. Often times the glasses seem uncomfortable and one may want to take them off. I am sure this is something a lot of you can relate to.

This gives the false appearance of nearsightedness.The glasses would work initially for you because your eyes would adjust to the glasses. Eventually after a while the muscles get tired.To determine whether it is pseudomyopia or not, Ophthalmologists recommend what we call a cycloplegic refraction.

This involves using eye drops (dilating drops) to block the action of the focusing muscles. This can rule out suspected Pseudomyopia, latent Hyperopia (hidden farsightedness, over focusing of the eye muscles and can also be used for patients that are difficult to examine. It can also help to determine how strong the final prescription should be.