Can wearing glasses make your vision worse?

A pair of glasses

Credit: Getty

Strong Women


Can wearing glasses make your vision worse?

By Lauren Geall

2 years ago

3 min read

It’s one of those things we’ve heard time and time again – but is is true that wearing glasses can make your eyesight worse over time? We asked optometrists to clear things up.     


From the idea that you need to drink eight glasses of water a day to stay hydrated to the belief that going out with wet hair can make you sick, health is one of those subject areas dominated by unhelpful myths. 

It’s why working out what’s true and what’s not can be so difficult – with so much information floating around, knowing who or what to trust can be a lot.

One such message we’ve heard time and time again is to do with eye health: specifically, that wearing glasses can make your vision worse over time.

But is this true? Can wearing glasses make your eyesight worse eventually? And, on the flip side, can not wearing glasses when you need them have the same effect? 


Can wearing glasses make your eyes worse? 

Lots of glasses

Credit: Getty

It may be a common belief, but wearing glasses won’t make your eyesight worse.

“This is a common misconception,” says Kyla Black, an optometrist and head of professional services at Boots Opticians. “Glasses help to correct an individual’s long or short-sighted vision and wearing glasses will not make your eyesight worse.”

So where does this belief – that glasses can damage your eyesight – stem from? Many people cite the fact that their eyes feel worse or ‘lazy’ after removing their glasses. However, Dr Josie Forte, Specsavers optometrist, says this isn’t quite the case.

“When you are wearing prescription glasses, the lenses in the frames are working to correct your vision, which means your eye muscles can relax and work naturally,” Forte says.  

“Once you take them off, your eyes will be required to focus again without the help of vision correction, which can sometimes make you feel disorientated or dizzy – and has led some people to believe that wearing glasses might make your eyes lazy. However, this is not true – glasses do not make your vision worse.”

This also explains why some people feel their eyes are ‘better’ in the morning and ‘worse’ in the evening after they’ve worn their glasses all day, Forte adds.

“Your morning eyes may seem better as they are better rested, meaning they are better at focusing than they are later in the day,” she continues. “This is a normal occurrence and does not mean the glasses are responsible for making your vision worse during the day.” 

Can not wearing glasses when you need them make your eyesight worse? 

If you haven’t been wearing your glasses for fear that they’ll make your eyes worse, then don’t worry – chances are you haven’t been doing yourself any damage.

“In most cases – unless otherwise advised – corrective glasses compensate for any refractive error due to a mismatch of the eye and cornea which helps people see clearly and reduce eye strain,” Forte says. “Not wearing glasses generally doesn’t make your vision worse, but it does make your eyes work harder!”

Black agrees – adding that not wearing glasses can cause symptoms including headaches. “Corrective glasses allow you to see clearly and prevent the eye from having to work as hard, which helps to reduce eye strain,” she says.  


Images: Getty

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