My vision is blurry... so I just need glasses right?

Your vision is blurry- so that must just mean you need glasses right? Well, not always and knowing the difference is important.

When you go to your optometrist or your eye surgeon, he/she will take two measurements of your vision. One is called the "uncorrected" vision and means what you can see without glasses. If you can see 20/20 without glasses that means 1. you have no focusing error i.e. short or long sightedness or astigmatism AND 2. it means that your eye is probably healthy.

If you can't see 20/20, then you will have your focusing error measured and then your vision will be measured with the focusing error corrected for. This is your "corrected" vision. If your corrected vision is not 20/20, it means your eye is unhealthy in some way and your vision cannot be fixed with glasses. Then you need to go and see an eye surgeon for treatment.

Of course you can't tell yourself whether that blurriness you have is due to your uncorrected or corrected vision being bad. And there are many eye conditions that get irreversibly worse the longer you delay getting checked out. So if your vision is blurry, don't assume you just need glasses- get an eye check as it might be something more serious.

* Information on this blog is general in nature and should not be taken as professional medical advice or as a substitute for a consultation with a medical professional.