In the nearsighted eye the eyeball is too long for parallel rays entering the eye to be focused upon the retina; they are bent, instead, to a point in front of the retina, and then diverge making the vision blurred. The act of accommodation in making the lens more convex will not aid this condition, but only make it worse, so that it is not attempted.
Eye strain in this optical defect is brought on by constant use of the eye muscles (attached to the outside of the eyeball) in directing both eyes inward so that they will both center on near objects; the only ones which can be seen. Outward squint frequently results, because the muscular efforts required to direct both eyes equally inward to see near objects are so great that the use of both eyes together is given up, and the poorer eye is not used and squints outward, while the better eye is turned inward in the endeavor to see. Nearsighted persons are apt to stoop, owing to the habitual necessity for coming close to the object looked at. Their facial expression is also likely to be rather vacant, since they do not distinctly see, and do not respond to the facial movements of others.
Nearsightedness, or myopia, is not a congenital defect, but is usually acquired owing to excessive near work which requires that the eye muscles constantly direct both eyes inward to see near objects. In so acting the muscles compress the sides of the eyeballs and tend to increase their length, interfere with their nutrition, and aggravate the condition when it is once begun. Concave lenses are used to correct myopia, and they must be worn all the time.