Optometrist Says We Need Lenses for Peripherial Vision

“ Why don't traditional corrective lenses slow myopia's progression much?” the LATimes recently asked. Earl Smith, dean of the college of optometry at the University of Houston, has an answer or at least a theory. “Glasses and contact lenses affect the image in the center of the eye. They do not address vision at the periphery. And, he said, 'the peripheral retina — because there's so much more of it — can actually dominate the way that the eye grows.' Smith believes a process called 'visual feedback' is contributing to the worsening of myopia in individuals who develop nearsightedness.”