Do spectacles weaken the eyes?
There are biases and preconceptions that everyone has heard of at least once, but nobody seems to really know if and how much truth there is behind them. The Rodenstock experts clarify matters!
The myth: Do spectacles really make the eyes worse?
"The eye is like any other muscle: If it isn't exercised, it becomes weaker.When you reach for a pair of spectacles, you make it easy for the eye, it continues to become slack and the visual acuity gets even worse."
The truth: Wrong!
We asked Prof. Dr. Stephan Degle, Professor for Optometry and Ophthalmic Optics, and found out that defective vision does not depend on the eye muscle and therefore muscle training has no demonstrable effect. The good news for all spectacles wearers is: Wearing spectacles does not further deteriorate the eyes. The opposite is in fact true: If you fail to wear spectacles despite have impaired vision or wear spectacles with the wrong prescription, short-sightedness (myopia) may worsen.
Stephan Degle is a Professor for Optometry and Ophthalmic Optics and Director of Studies of the bachelor degree programme Ophthalmic Optics/Optometry at the Ernst Abbe University in Jena.
