Eye Facts & Eye Myths


Your eyes are complex and truly phenomenal to see colour, detail and depth as well as they do. But how much do you know about your eyes, and how much of that is true? Below are amassed amazing and interesting myths, truths and factoids about our eyes.

‘Does eating carrots help you see in the dark?’

KIND OF...One of the oldest and probably most well known ‘stories’ about the eyes. Many people also now know that this was misinformation given out by the British during the Second World War, intended to explain why their pilots could find enemy planes in the dark and thus cover up the discovery of radar. However, carrots are high in Vitamin A. In an interesting twist, this has been discovered to be required by the eyes retina and – wait for it – particularly for night vision.

‘Can using your eyes too much wear them out?’

NO... Whilst using your eyes to concentrate on something for a long while may tire you or give you a headache, these are not permanent symptoms and the eyes are not weakened. This myth may have come about as many eye conditions are age related, such as presbyopia and cataracts. People may have mistakenly thought that, since the elderly have used their eyes more than the young, deterioration in vision was due to the eyes wearing out.

‘Is it bad to wear soft contact lenses while swimming?’

YES... Definitely! Wearing contacts in the pool or Jacuzzi can cause eye infections of potentially blinding magnitude. Besides, even people with perfect vision have blurred sight underwater anyway (without goggles). This is because water has a different refractive strength to air (1.33 and 1 respectively), and the human eye is adapted to see in air.

‘Reading in the dim light will damage my eyes, right?’

NO... While it may make your eyes tired, sore, or give you a headache, new research has shown that it cannot permanently damage them. (Though we advise against reading in the dark if you already have weak eyes).

‘Is it ever ok to look directly at the sun?’

NO... Though the occasional glance will not do you any harm, you should never look directly at the sun, a welding spark or a solar eclipse. Squinting is no help, as UV light can still enter your eyes. Staring straight into the sun (even at eclipse) for minutes at a time can cause a solar retinopathy. This is often permanent and may produce a blind-spot somewhere in the field of vision.

‘I’m developing cataracts which are starting to affect my vision. Do I have to wait for them to be ‘ripe’ before I have them removed?’

NO... Well, not any more. Cataracts get worse the longer you leave them for, and the procedure to remove used to be difficult and dangerous. Due to this, people often waited until the cataract was really bad – ‘ripe’ or ‘advanced’ – before having it removed. The current method for removing cataracts, involving ultrasound and smaller incisions, is much safer – so individuals may choose to have cataracts removed much earlier on.

‘Do glasses deteriorate vision over time?’

NO... Before someone starts wearing glasses for the first time they have always seen the world as blurry. Or, they have gradually become used to seeing it blurred as their vision has deteriorated. When people put glasses on, vision is instantly clear. Then if the glasses come off, the world becomes blurred again. If it has been a few months since receiving the glasses, this blurriness may not have been a problem before – but the person has now become used to seeing clearly. So it is the perception which has changed – not the eye.

There are also other reasons behind this myth. Some eye conditions may worsen with time regardless of glasses, for example myopia in children age 8-12, or presbyopia may develop later in life; this may become worse, regardless of glasses.

‘Is there really any need to get my eyes checked before I’m 40 or 50?’

YES... Though presbyopia is most common after this age, there are a number of eye diseases with no symptoms that can occur before forty. Glaucoma would be a good example.

Other Amazing Eye Facts

  • The greatest cause of blindness (in America at least) is diabetes – a condition not directly related to the eyes!
  • The human eyeball weighs about 28 grams.
  • The only live tissue in the body that does not contain any blood vessels is the cornea. This can be transplanted using other human corneas, artificial plastic ones and shark corneas.
  • The human eye blinks over ten million times a year and can distinguish between five hundred shades of gray!

Your eyes truly are astounding – so make sure you look after them. Always wear sunglasses or safety goggles when appropriate, and get them checked every so often. Take care of them – you only get one pair. Final fact,…eyes cannot be transplanted!

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