Prescription glasses are convenient. They immediately improve your eyesight, however glasses may not be as helpful as you think. When you’re in pain, you can take a couple of pills and feel better soon after. What do pills have to do with glasses? Like the pills, they are “quick fixes.” They address the symptoms, but do not resolve the underlying cause.

Like most quick fixes, they can cause even more problems in the long run. What are some of the disadvantages of wearing prescription glasses?

1) Glasses make the eye muscles inefficient. If you don’t challenge your muscles, they weaken. The eye muscles are no exception. Glasses disrupt the way you would normally use your eye muscles and put a lot of strain on your eyes. Her eye muscles continue to be tense and this results in her needing a new prescription, which causes problem number two.

2) They create a dependency cycle. The more you use them, the more you will need them.

3) They cause your vision to narrow, your peripheral vision takes a big hit, and activities that require good peripheral vision become more challenging. Glasses force you to use a small part of your total field of vision, which you compensate by constantly tilting your neck. This causes tension that can lead to pain and poor posture.

4) They could make you look less attractive. This is not really a health problem, but it is important to many people. It’s not that the intellectual look isn’t attractive, but in some cases prolonged wearing of glasses can make your eyes look smaller because your eyes recede more deeply into your eye sockets. This can affect how the proportions of your face are perceived.

5) The cost. This is also not a health problem, but it can be important for many people. If you have a condition that gets worse over time, you may need to get a new prescription every year. Those costs add up, and in the event that multiple family members need glasses, the total cost can be very high, and this is without taking special cases into account.

Wearing glasses won’t make you blind, or anything drastic like that. On the other hand, glasses will not help you improve your eyesight either. They are convenient, but ineffective as a remedy. Glasses should only be worn when necessary. Wearing prescription glasses too often will cause dependency, which can be harmful to your eyesight.