21 myths about your eyes
Until the day comes when we can all jump into our time machines and travel back to confirm historical facts, we must rely on documentation and artifacts which have managed to withstand the tests of time. Although we can use these clues to piece together what we think really happened, we can still only guesstimate certain data to build a picture of the full truth.
So even after all our searching and fact finding, certain stories remain frayed around the edges; with exaggerations and imaginations running riot, events soon mutate into mythical tales that never truly existed.
This is why you can be forgiven for thinking that Edison invented the light bulb, or that Lady Godiva rode naked through the streets of Coventry on horseback. These common myths are just some of the examples of how stories can end up as fumbled fables.
Here is a compelling list of the 21 greatest myths that surround the human eye. Read on, and the next time your friends insist they know the truth, you can politely smile and advise them otherwise.
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1. Square eyes
“You’ll get square eyes sitting that close to the screen!” While sitting too close to the television won’t actually make your eyes go square, or necessarily damage them, if you find this is a regular habit you may need to visit your optician.
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2. Reading in the dark
Reading in dim light won’t harm your eyes, but it can put strain on your eyes through slowing down the blink rate.
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3. Crossing your eyes
Crossed eyes are a result of nerve damage, and not a defect you can get from moving your eyes into the crossed position for long periods, no matter how many times you pull a funny face.
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4. Eating carrots
Unfortunately, no matter how many carrots you eat, you won’t be able to see in the dark. However, carrots do contain a large amount of vitamin A, which is great for helping to protect the cornea.
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5. Sneezing with your eyes open
Closing your eyes is a natural reflex when you sneeze, although no one is quite sure why. But some people can actually sneeze with their eyes open! So, there’s no danger of your eyeballs popping out, thankfully.
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6. Wearing your eyes out
Your eyes are designed to be used, and nothing will wear them out. Just as your nose won’t get bored of smelling, and your ears won’t grow tired of listening.
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7. Wearing someone else’s glasses
Go ahead and try on as many of your friend’s glasses as you like: your eyes won’t be affected. But your friends might find it a bit annoying. If you have perfect vision, do try to avoid wearing extremely strong prescriptions for long periods, as they could potentially give you a nasty headache.
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8. Blind people live in total darkness
People who are legally blind are defined as failing to meet 20/200 vision, this means that blind people don’t see pure darkness. In fact, most will have some form of vision, but those who don’t simply see nothing at all.
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9. Eye exercises
Contrary to what many people think, eye exercises can’t improve your vision, although vision training can help against eye muscle problems such as eye misalignment, known as strabismus. However, no amount of eye aerobics will repair near or farsightedness. Sorry!
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10. Eye transplants
Whole eye transplants might sound like a great idea, but unfortunately, they only exist in the dreams of Hollywood directors and in galaxies far, far, far away. We can do corneal transplants, however, which can help to restore people’s sight. Pretty cool, don’t you think?
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11. Corrective contacts only
Most people can wear contact lenses – not just those who have corrective issues. You will need to get the right measurements from an optometrist, but then you can jazz up your eyes with all the colours of the rainbow.
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12. Contact lenses for children
Children can wear contact lenses. In fact, children as young as just 8 years old have been known to wear corrective lenses without any damage to their eyes. However, you should always consult your optician beforehand.
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13. Wearing glasses will make your eyes get worse
Wearing glasses won’t weaken your eyes or make you dependent on vision correction. They are simply vision aids to give you clearer, better sight.
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14. Too much ‘romance’ will make you go blind
This is a myth. We needn’t say any more about it!
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15. 20/20 vision
20/20 vision simply means you have good central vision, it doesn’t mean that you can see perfectly. There are other defining factors to be considered, such as peripheral awareness, eye co-ordination, colour vision, focusing ability and depth perception.
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16. Colour blindness
Being colour blind doesn’t mean you see in black and white, it just means that you can’t differentiate between certain colours. Difficulty distinguishing between red and green, or blue and yellow are the two most common problems.
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17. Squinting hurts your eyes
Squint until the cows come home if you really want to - it won’t affect your vision. However, if you find that you need to squint to see more clearly, you might need to visit your optician.
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18. Cataracts only affect older people
50% of all 50-year-olds will develop cataracts later in their life; however, people of any age that suffer a blow to the eye or have diabetes can just as easily get cataracts.
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19. Looking at the sun won’t damage your eyes
Looking directly into the sun without fully UV protected sunglasses will damage your eyes, as the intense light emitted by the sun damages the cells in the cornea. Practice safe sunbathing!
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20. Using computers will damage your eyes
Using a computer will not damage your eyesight. But using computers does slow down your blink rate and can result in dry eyes. For some top tips, read our article on how to avoid digital eye strain.
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21. Your eyes never grow
Your eyes continue growing throughout your lifetime, starting out at about 18.5mm at birth and growing to approximately 25mm by the time you reach adulthood.
Enjoyed our 21 eye myths? Take a look at our 10 myths about contact lenses.
