Dr. Brinton Discusses Nearsightedness Epidemic on Channel 5 News

St. Louis, Missouri -

Dr. Jason Brinton, an ophthalmologist at Brinton Vision in St. Louis, discussed the increase in nearsightedness in young adults with Channel 5 News. Nearsightedness, or myopia, is the ability to see up close clearly, but vision becomes blurry the further a person looks. While nearsightedness is not a new phenomenon, the population suffering from myopia has approximately doubled in the last half century.

Dr. Brinton stated that, “There is some really good evidence to show that people are using screens more now and that, in particular, is leading to an epidemic of nearsightedness,” as people are primarily training their eyes to focus on the screens close to them without variation or breaks for distance vision.

One way to help prevent the development or worsening of nearsightedness when one uses screens a great deal for work or personal use, is an exercise known as the ’20-20-20 Rule’. For this exercise, when using technology and focusing on screens or other close-up detail work, take the time every 20 minutes to take a 20 second break to look more than 20 feet in the distance. This can help decrease eye fatigue and reset the eye’s blink pattern.

At this point, half of all young adults in the U.S. are nearsighted. Everyone should take the time to care for their eyes and be sure to check in on their eye health whenever possible. Nearsightedness can be assisted with glasses and contacts, or treated with vision correction surgery, though ideally, prevention precludes treatment.

Dr. Brinton and Brinton Vision are committed to patient excellence. Brinton Vision offers LASIK as well as all 6 of its modern alternatives to ensure each patient receives the best procedure to help them reach visual freedom.