Does Wearing Glasses Weaken Eyesight?

For long-time glasses wearers, when you don’t have your glasses, it feels like you’re blind. When you wear them, you can see the world clearly, but it feels almost impossible to go about your day without your glasses.

“It’s your glasses,” some people tell you, “glasses weaken eyes.”

– Your Friends…

You might even begin wondering, do glasses weaken your eyes?

The short answer: no, they don’t cause any damage to your eyes.

Look at it this way, before you wore glasses, you might have been under the impression you were doing just fine, or at the very least, able to manage easily enough.

You had become used to having bad eyesight and practicing techniques to see things somewhat clearly. However, then you purchased glasses for the first time.

Once you wore them, you didn’t have to struggle to see things anymore. If you tried going back to living without them, it would seem much more complicated than it was. Why is that the case if glasses don’t weaken your eyes?

Why Does It Feel Like My Eyes are Getting Weaker?

To best understand why it seems like your eyes are “weaker,” let’s look at an example of someone with nearsightedness.

Their whole life, they’ve squinted and strained to see things in the distance clearly. As time went on, it became natural to do this and didn’t seem like it took much effort. Imagine this person goes to a Tulsa eye doctor, receives a prescription, and finds a Tulsa eyewear store to purchase their prescription glasses.

They wear their glasses and find out immediately that they can effortlessly see things far away that they couldn’t before.

Then one day, they don’t wear their glasses, and suddenly it seems like a huge struggle to see things in the distance again.

Their eyes haven’t worsened, you’ve just become used to the ease of seeing and now realize how difficult it was before.

Think of it this way. Let’s say someone suffers from lower back pain whenever they sit.

They lived with it their whole life, and have just accepted it and become used to it. Then one day, they purchase a unique cushion, which allows them to sit with no lower back pain. If they stop using that pillow, the pain will seem far worse than before, but not because their back is weaker.

It’s because they were accustomed to living without pain, and not that they feel it again, they realize how bad it was when they just coped with it.

Think of glasses as a tool. You could always use your fist to hit a nail into a board, but why would you do that when you can use a perfectly good hammer? Similarly, you might be able to function without glasses, but why go without them when they can help you so much?

They don’t make your eyes weak; they just make life easier.

Glasses are Not Responsible Weakened Eyesight

Even still, you might hear some people claim that glasses damage your eyesight. Scientifically speaking, that’s incorrect.

Unfortunately, many eye conditions are degenerative, meaning they will worsen over time naturally. Two examples of these conditions are myopia (nearsightedness), a condition that occurs in adolescents, or presbyopia, which everyone suffers from to some degree when they reach their 40s.

Even if someone who experienced one of these didn’t wear glasses, their eyesight would worsen.

If you have poor vision, visit an optometrist for a prescription. Then stop by a Tulsa glasses store to find some frames for your new prescription glasses, and enjoy seeing life clearly.

Strengthen Your Eyesight!

Rediscover yourself with lenses that fit and look good.