Ocular Myths

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Eating carrots will improve your vision.

• FALSE! Vitamin A is great for essential nutrients and can help maintain healthy eyesight, but it will not improve deteriorated vision or keep you from needing corrective lenses.

If you cross your eyes, they'll stay that way.

• FALSE! Crossed eyes can result from disease, uncorrected vision, or muscle or nerve damage, but crossing them for fun will not permanently keep your eyes that way.

Sitting very close to the TV can damage your eyes.

• FALSE! Sitting close to the TV can indicate a person has trouble seeing at a distance and may need corrective lenses. It can also cause eye stain (tired feeling eyes) or headaches, but does not cause any damage to your eyes.

Eyes can be transplanted.

• FALSE! The entire eye itself cannot be transplanted. If you lose your eye sight and the doctor recommends that the eyeball needs to be removed, you have the option of a prosthetic. This does not help with vision, but will benefit a person cosmetically. There are parts of the eye that can be transplanted, like the cornea. 

You don’t need regular eye exams if you don’t have any obvious vision problems.

• FALSE! Everyone needs regular eye exams. Vision changes can be very noticeable or not at all. It is important to see your eye doctor regularly to keep your prescription updated. Also, if you suffer from other health conditions, it is extremely important to see your eye doctor to make sure your eyes are not affected.

There’s nothing you can do to prevent vision loss.

• FALSE! Regular eye exams are crucial for maintaining your ocular health. If you suffer from other health conditions like diabetes, thyroid disorders, hypertension or have a family history of eye diseases, routine eye exams can prevent vision loss. Also, taking vitamins for your eyes and overall health can help.

Wearing eyeglasses or contact lenses will make your eyes worse.

• FALSE! Wearing the correction you need does not make your eyes worse. Many people think their eyes are getting worse because they have become dependent on glasses to see better, but that is what they are there for. You get used to seeing clearly with correction so your vision seems worse when you take off glasses.

Contact lens can roll in the back of your eye and get stuck.

• FALSE! Contact lenses cannot get stuck behind your eye. There are structures in and around the eye that prevents this. Contact lenses can roll to the upper part of the eye and cause discomfort, but your eye doctor can take it out for you.

You can regain eyesight once vision is lost.

• FALSE! Unfortunately, once you have lost vision, there is no treatment to get your vision back. 

All eye doctors are the same.

• FALSE! Each profession in ophthalmology is measured by level of expertise, Ophthalmologist being the highest level, then Optometrists. Also, each doctor has a different personality, bedside manner and treatment options. Be sure to find a doctor that compliments how you want to be treated.