Terms we use to describe your sight

Your eye could be compared to a camera. The lens at the front is your cornea, the autofocus is the crystalline lens and Iris. The film of the camera is the retina, and everything has to work perfectly in order to get the best picture!

Normal sight - Emmetropia
The image of a distant object is perfectly in focus on the retina. Correcetion with spectacles is not required.

Long sight - Hypermetropia
The image of a distant object is focused behind the retina, because the eye may be too short or the refractive mechanism is too weak. Long-sighted people generally have more difficulty with close work. In young people distance vision is often good, but in older patients it can become gradually reduced.

Short sight - Myopia
The image of a distant object is focused in front of the retina, because the eye may be too long or the refractive mechanism is too strong. Short-sighted people will have blurred distance vision, but normally have good near vision, often holding text very close.

Astigmatism
If an eye is astigmatic it looks more like a rugby ball in shape, with a steeper curve in one direction, and a flatter curvature in the other. In the astigmatic eye, both distance and near vision are likely to be equally affected and it can be found in conjunction with both long - and short - sightedness. A toric or cylindrical (cyl) lens is used to correct astigmatism. The majority of people we examine usually have some astigmatism.

Presbyopia
Once we reach our mid-forties, our ability to focus on closer objects reduces, requiring 'reading glasses'. It usually starts with difficulty reading A to Z print, or threading a needle!