Myopia is the most common refractive error, with nearly 400 million myopic patients in China. The main cause of myopia is an excessively long anterior-posterior diameter of the eye, which is true myopia. Pseudo-myopia, on the other hand, occurs when the eye's refractive power increases, temporarily placing the eye in a myopic state. Pseudo-myopia is common among primary and secondary school students. This is because they spend too much time looking at near objects (such as reading books, especially in poor lighting or with incorrect posture), which causes excessive eye adjustment. The ciliary muscle, which regulates the curvature of the lens, contracts and spasms over time, leading to an increase in lens curvature and refractive index. As a result, images fall in front of the retina, causing blurry vision. At this point, symptoms of myopia will appear, such as blurry vision at a distance, clearer vision at close range, squinting when looking at things, and a myopia prescription during an eye examination.
When the concept of pseudo-myopia was first proposed, it did not mean that myopia was divided into true and false types, nor was it specifically aimed at adolescent myopia, but rather at hyperopia. Pseudo-myopia is a functional change in which the anterior-posterior diameter of the eye does not increase, but rather due to excessive adjustment causing ciliary muscle spasms. After administering ciliary muscle paralysis drops and re-examining the eyes, it is found that the so-called pseudo-myopia is actually hyperopia. This is because hyperopia requires adjustment to see both distant and near objects, especially near objects, making it prone to visual fatigue, causing eye swelling, headaches, strabismus, and vision loss. If pseudo-myopia is treated as true myopia, such as wearing myopia glasses, the eyes will feel very uncomfortable because it cannot relieve ciliary muscle spasms.
During adolescence, the eyes are in a stage of continued development, and vision gradually improves from hyperopia to normal. If attention is not paid to eye hygiene when reading or watching TV, such as incorrect posture, poor lighting, excessive viewing distance, or prolonged use of the eyes, myopia may develop. Therefore, people have long believed that pseudo-myopia is an early stage of true myopia. However, ophthalmologists point out that pseudo-myopia may be overhyped. Myopia should not be further divided into true and false types, because what was previously considered typical pseudo-myopia was found to be mainly caused by hyperopia and astigmatism through pupil dilation examinations.