Help and frequently asked questions

Can glasses make my eyes worse?

Answer: 

Many people require prescription glasses to correct their vision due to long-sightedness (hyperopia), short-sightedness (myopia) or another eye condition. These glasses are designed specifically to correct the specific condition, but there is something of a myth around whether wearing these glasses can actually make it worse. Put simply, this is not true.

The belief is often centred on the idea that wearing glasses might make your eyes lazy once you remove them, as once you grow accustomed to wearing glasses your eyes may feel uncomfortable if you take them off. This is because when you are wearing prescription glasses, the lenses in the frames are working to correct your vision, which means your eye muscles can relax and work naturally. Once you take them off, the eyes will be required to focus again without the help of vision correction, making you feel anything from disorientated to dizzy or sore.

If you find your natural vision (without glasses) is better first thing in the morning than it is at the end of the day after you've removed your glasses, this has an explanation too. Your morning eyes may seem better as they are more flexible, meaning they are better at focusing than they are later in the day. This is a normal occurrence and does not mean that the glasses are responsible for making your vision worse during the day.Another potential cause behind this myth is that vision can deteriorate with age.

This is true for people with or without glasses, so even if you do wear glasses your whole life, then discover that your eyes are not what they used to be, this is likely caused by the ageing process rather than your spectacles.