I spent 90% of my early childhood outdoors. Didn't work.
this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2026
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My eyes have been terrible since 1st grade. My prescription got as high as 9s.
Then I got cataract surgery on one eye, and I can see nearly perfectly without glasses for the first time in my life. This summer, I'm getting the other one done, and I won't have to wear glasses anymore, for the first time in my life.
Anyway, the point is: As I was talking to the eye surgeon, and mentioned my bad eyesight, he told me why: I have the eyeballs of a man who is 7'2" tall, jammed into my 5'11" skull. Apparently, I have enormous eyes, which nobody has ever mentioned to me, other than one brief girlfriend who used to comment on my gigantic green eyes.
If I had to get something big from a 7'2" inch man, why did it have to be eyeballs?
You were made for anime, not office work
If we take your eyeballs and take my teeth ("You have the roots of a 6'5" man" inside my 5'4" female body) we have the start of a good build!
Which of us is Doctor Frankenstein though?
Wow I didn't realize that cataract surgery can improve your vision that dramatically. I thought cataracts surgery was something typically reserved for seniors to prevent foggy vision
They fully replace the eyes' lenses, so they can give you lenses that correct your vision. It's just not a great idea to do surgery for something that can still be corrected with glasses.
It’s just not a great idea to do surgery for something that can still be corrected with glasses.
Well I generally agree, there are people who elect to get laser eye surgery. Is this procedure generally considered more risky than laser eye surgery?
They have to destroy your natural lens to make room for the replacement so it's a bit riskier than laser correction.
Makes sense
Well, yeah, I'm old, and there were cataracts in both eyes, but one went bad real fast, over the course of a few months. The doc told me that it's kinda rare, but it happens. What was weird is that it only happened in one eye, so at least I could see with my one good eye, but if it happened to that eye too, before I could get the surgery, I'd be screwed. I literally wouldn't be able to see well enough to drive, read, anything.
So the new lens corrected for any bad eyesight, more or less. I haven't had it tested now that it's fully healed, but it probably isn't perfect 20/20, but it's close. I have a contact in my other eye, which is still at a 9, so very bad. It also has a light cataract.
Now I can see the difference between the two eyes. In my new eye, colors are brighter and sharper. In my other, cataract eye, colors are slightly, but noticeably muted. I probably wouldn't even have noticed it, if I didn't have the new eye for comparison.
I've also noticed that late at night, when I'm tired but still watching TV, I get double vision. I have to consciously focus. The doc warned me that having a good eye, and a contact lens eye would mess with my vision, and I think this is what he was talking about.
The doc said that now that I've had one done, the insurance will probably spring for the second one, even if it isn't necessary yet. That means I'll have nearly perfect vision, and maybe need reading glasses. I use reading glasses with my new eye, but if I don't have them, it isn't a big deal, I see well enough for most stuff.
Sorry to yak so much about it, but It's kind of exciting, being able to see so well for the first time, as an old person, and I don't really have anyone else to tell it to that would care.
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Near-sightedness
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myopia says that both terms exist in English? Not a native speaker; I think I have seen "nearsightedness" more often in English but my first language's term for it translates to "shortsightedness". 🤷♂️
IDK why it would say that, I'm a native speaker and the two terms have different meanings. Short-sightedness refers to not planning for long-term problems.
Edit: looking at what comes up in search, I see it showing up that way. I guess words change if we use them incorrectly for long enough. I'd be awfully confused if someone started talking about my short-sightedness as anything other than a flaw in my problem-solving abilities.
ok, "Kurzsichtigkeit" in German definitely has both meanings without this causing confusion in practice
I guess words change if we use them incorrectly for long enough.
Looking at the etymology, it appears that short sighted started as the medical term, with it's relation to foresight coming later. It's also older than nearsighted.
It may be less common in modern contexts, but it's definitely a "correct" use.
Also: all words are made up and the points don't matter.
Both terms depend on context. If you talk about someone's myopic or short sighted plan to earn money you know they're referring to a CEO.
We say short-sighted in Britain.
Sometimes I wonder if people see numbers like 45% and think "OMG, 45% chance!" instead of "small number * 1.45 = another small number."
Considering that a fairly large percentage of children develop myopia (as high as 80-90% in some countries) a 45% reduction would be fairly significant, no? Or am I missing something
where are you getting these numbers.. from what I can see, the global average was 23% in 2000 and 34% today.
The 80-90% claim seems to be repeated in various areas on the internet, including by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, which I assume to be reputable:
Over recent decades, the prevalence of myopia has skyrocketed, particularly in Asia. In countries like China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan, up to 80-90% of teenagers and young adults are now myopic.
Of course these local averages are still consistent with a lower global average
Does it work for adults too?
It probably helps against making it worse. My father always told about the 30-30-30 rule.
Every 30 minutes
For 30 seconds
Looking at least 30 Meters into the distance
No. Interestingly once myopia does start developing this doesn't seem to slow the progression. It seems to be good for prevention and that's it
No, it has to do with growth. An adult eye no longer grows significantly.
Good try child sports teams. I ain't touching that grass unless you make me.
I was outside a lot and still got myopia :3
Congrats on the luck
Then you were likely genetically predetermined to be at least a little myopic, but if you spent less time outside during your developmental phases you would likely be even more nearsighted than you are now.
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Hold up now. I grew up in the 80s when we spent the whole day outside, and I wore thick ass lenses all through grade school.
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I was outside a ton when I was younger and I still have myopia. These things happen.
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If you get this type of short sight vision, you can train your eyes to get the vision back as this is caused by the eyes strength.
But if you have the type that has to do with your eye shape going outside will do nothing, and you can exercise it away
You need to read better. It says it reduces occurrence of myopia in a population not that it cures myopia when an individual gets it.
Sure if you have very mild short term myopia caused by eye straining you can get vision back by training your eye. But with kids it’s about how the eye develops when it’s still growing. When kids eyes grow too fast they grow less spherical and that is what causes myopia and that is the kind that you can never cure. Going outside means kids are getting more sunlight in their eye which will slow down the growth and thus their eyes will grow more spherical which means they don’t develop myopia. Playing outside won’t cure myopia but it will reduce the chance of developing it in children.
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I'm pretty sure short-sightedness is more a result of patience and critical thinking, but outdoors might help near-sightedness.
"Also, while various theories such as increased light exposure, release of dopamine from retina, increased depth of field have been suggested to explain the protective effect of outdoor time, the mechanism remains to be elucidated"
Correlation is not causation.
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well, i can concur. my eyes have trouble adjusting to looking into the distance when i have spent hours in front of the screen. they adapt after a few minutes to hours though.
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