Nearsightedness question compedium?

I am nearsighted (20/700 or so). My parents both have poor eyesight, but I managed to surpass them a few years ago. Most of my short, two decade life has been spent around books or computers.

1- Would a lifestyle change be able to improve my vision? For example, if I decrease my close work? Is the damage done?

2- I've noticed an increase in 'floaters'. Usually, I can ignore them but the amount in my eyes right now is... irritating. Is there any way to reduce these? I've been in a chronically stressful situation for the last six weeks, so I wonder if its correlated.

3- Recently, my eyes have began to twitch. I had a bout of these spasms a few years ago, centered on the upper part of my left eye. Now, they occur in the lower parts of both eyes. What are they and how can I make them go away?

4- "They" say that severe nearsightedness increases your chance of retinal detachments. How severe do they mean?

Thanks

1. No, your eyes change naturally- there is nothing you can change to make your vision better. The only option is looking into lasik surgery to improve your eyesight.

2. Floaters are very common and can be VERY annoying. There is no way to reduce the amount you have. The inside of your eye contains jelly-like fluid called the vitreous. As you get older sometimes it clumps up and you see shadows from them. So far, there is no treatment for them. But FYI, if you ever start to see flashes of light then get to your doctor asap! Sometimes the floaters can pull on the retina and could possibly cause a hole/tear.

3. Twitching of the eyelid is also common. And it is correlated to stress, too much caffeine, and lack of sleep. And the only way to help stop the twitching is to reduce the list above. It usually last maybe a couple of days to a week and then goes away but can come back from time to time.

4. Yes, severe nearsightedness can increase your risk of a retinal detatchment. And it can vary, just by having your eyes dilated they can look to see if there is any retinal thinning or any changes in the retina. So definitely make sure you go every year for your routine exam.

Hope this helps!!

I've been nearsighted since the age of 10, which was almost 40 years ago. Neither of my parents have it nor does my sister. I've heard this condition is hereditary, though, and my older daughter has it almost as bad as I do. My other daughter has it only mildly and can function quite well without glasses. I will say that your condition probably did not result from books or computers. Like I said, I've been like this for almost 40 years and back then, we had no personal computers. I also did not spend a lot of time reading books. As the previous poster said, you might benefit from LASIK but for an older person like me, probably not. I will still need reading glasses.