Vision Quiz: Facts and Myths
There’s no shortage of vision facts and myths that have been perpetuated by well-meaning people. But when it comes to your eye health, you don’t want to make assumptions or make the mistake of believing a myth. To test your knowledge, here’s a pop quiz about some common eye beliefs. Answer the following questions true or false, and see how you stack up when it comes to facts about vision.
If you cross your eyes, they’ll stay that way.
Answer: FALSE. Despite what your mother might have told you all of your life, crossing your eyes will not cause them to be permanently crossed. Truly crossed eyes, called Strabismus, happen because of either an issue with the eye muscles, the nerves that connect to the muscles, or the control center in the brain responsible for eye movements. It has nothing to do with electively crossing your eyes.
If parents have poor eyesight, their kids will also have poor eyesight.
Answer: Mostly TRUE. If your parents’ vision is less than stellar, it’s not a given that your eyes will perform just as poorly. But family history and genetics is definitely part of the equation that determines your vision. If one or both of your parents’ eyesight is suboptimal, you will have much greater odds of having suboptimal eyesight as well.
Only boys can be color blind.
Answer: FALSE. It’s much more common for boys to be color blind than for girls to have the same condition, but girls still can be color blind. About one in 12 men are diagnosed as color blind, whereas only one in 200 women are. Color blindness can come from a variety of sources, oftentimes due to a gene passed down by the mother or as a result of diabetes or aging.
Wearing glasses too often will make eyes dependent on them.
Answer: FALSE. A common line of thinking goes that wearing glasses will change the shape of your eyes over time, even causing eye muscles to become lazy and stop working well on their own. But there is no evidence to support this. The reality is that refractive errors in your eyes, like being near-sighted, far-sighted, or having astigmatism, usually worsen with age and as a result of genetics. There are endless factors that could impact how eyesight may improve or decline over time, but wearing glasses does not contribute to this.
Wearing eye makeup to bed isn’t that bad.
Answer: FALSE. Most women understand that leaving makeup on their skin overnight can cause skin damage and even cause acne or fine lines. But sometimes they justify leaving eye makeup on overnight because it’s only on the lashes or eyelids. However, leaving makeup on the lashes, eyelids, or anywhere near the eye can be dangerous to your eye health. When you sleep, mascara and eyeliner can smear into your pillow and end up in your eyes. This can cause bacterial and oil buildup, and ultimately irritate and inflame the eye. Worst case, it could even cause an infection. So always wash off your makeup, and your eye makeup in particular, before getting that shut eye.
Now that you know the facts versus the myths, and you aced this test, you can take even better care of your eyes and vision. Contact us today to learn more about proper eye care or to ask about our exams.