The fear is common that a hairstyle with a long or asymmetric bang can negatively affect vision. We decided to check if such anxiety is justified.

About the unpleasant consequences for vision, which can lead to the wearing of a bangs, many write Media: "Moscow Komsomolets","Sport-Express" Life.ru, "The secret of the company". The potential danger is concerned Users sites questions And answers, and also Blogs And forums O parental And fashion. Caught on wearing bangs and sites dedicated to vision. True, some call the most dangerous Long bangs, while others - Spit. Allegedly, “due to long hair that falls on the eyes, there is a shortage of sunlight, leading to a lack of vitamins necessary for full vision,” and the slanting bang is “about the same as wearing a bandage in the eye. At some point-and a lot of time is not needed! “He will begin to see worse.” "Emo-fees spoil vision", warns Colta.ru, and "Days.ru" warn: "A fashionable haircut threatens to turn into blindness." Also media They saythat wearing Bangs leads to development amblyopia.

Ambliopia, or the syndrome of the lazy eye, is decrease visual acuity caused by insufficient functioning of the eye in the process of development. In order for the visual system to develop correctly, the brain must receive the most clear, focused and properly combined picture from both eyes. If the picture from one eye “does not integrate” into the general puzzle in terms of clarity or the details of the image do not coincide, then the brain begins to ignore the visual information coming from this eye. Ambliopia can arise Due to strabismus, refractive errors (astigmatism, myopia or farsightedness) or obstruction of the visual axis (for example, cataracts). This pathology Prostious from 1% to 4% of all children, usually it develops at the age of two years, but the risk of its appearance persists for about seven to eight years.

If an ophthalmologist discovers amblyopia in a child, then along with vision correction (glasses) prescribes Wearing an occluder - plastic, rubber or tissue branding, which “turns off” a healthy eye and makes the lazy work for two, and the brain - process the information received from this eye. According to the last clinical Recommendations, usually the doctor prescribes an occluder for two hours a day, however, if there is no effect, time can increase to six hours. There is schemes Treatment that requires wearing this brand and 24 hours a day. Correction of vision by an occluder on average occupies several months, but in severe cases Maybe It takes several years.

Probably, it is with the occluder that those who fear that a bang can “turn off” one eye from work draws a parallel. In particular, this is what Explained Problems of vision among youth Andrew Hogan, a member of the Australian Association of Optometrists: “If a teenager-emo has (Hogan commented on the hairstyles of representatives of this subculture.-Ed.) The bang closes one eye all the time, then this eye will not see many details and will become lazy eventually.” He gave such a comment to the Australian publication The Telegraph in 2012. And although in his statement Hogan did not refer to at least some scientific data, his words were widely replicated-they immediately wrote about the connection of hairstyles and vision problems Huffpost, Independent, Fox News, Time And New York Post.

Andrew Hogan is an ophthalmologist, occupying Earlier, the post of director of Optometry Australia, however, it was not possible to detect any of his scientific works on amblyopia in the largest medical research base. The only thing that is there is Job His Canadian namesake about methods of treating amblyopia in cats. Not located His research is also in the Google Scholar base. Probably, Hogan expressed not a scientifically justified warning, but simply shared with the journalist his incomparable assumptions.

Hogan’s colleagues did not agree with his point of view. In particular, Dr. Leonard Press, an ophthalmologist and co -author of clinical recommendations for the treatment of amblyopia of the American optometrist association, He thinks The idea of the influence of a long bang on problems with the visual vision. Firstly, in order to develop amblyopia, the bangs will have to be worn from a very early age, since after seven years the entire visual system has already been fully formed and it is extremely difficult to change it (which is why the treatment of children with amblyopia cannot be postponed in any case). Secondly, according to the press, in order for the vision to be disturbed, the bangs must be absolutely opaque and tightly close the eye for 24 hours a day for an extremely long time. The doctor believes that it is completely impossible to fulfill all these conditions, which means that such a hairstyle cannot harm vision in any way.

A similar position adhere to and specialists from the Center for Treatment of Virginia in the United States. They pay attention that the occluster does not cause vision loss on a healthy, temporarily turned off from the eye to the eye, but simply deprives the brain of signals from this eye to activate the lazy. After the treatment with an occluder stops, the child sees perfectly with both eyes. In addition, wearing a bang as an occluder fixed with a layer will not work - the hair will blow the wind or a simple move with a head. To fix both the head and the hairstyle so that the eye is completely closed, it is impossible for several hours for several hours for several months without conscious effort. Therefore, even a bang closing one eye will not affect vision in any way.

Dr. Lil Linton, former President of the Canadian Association of Optometrists, also He thinks The problem is far -fetched: “This could happen if it was a very small child whose hair would constantly block one eye. At the same time, the eye should be completely closed and not to receive absolutely no visual stimulation either day or night. ” In her opinion, the most vulnerable age for the development of amblyopia is up to three years, after six years the vision has already formed so much that the chance of the appearance of the pathology is insignificant, and if it develops, it is definitely not because of the hairstyle.

Gary Hiting, ophthalmologist and vision expert, in the article for the scientific and educational resource All About Vision Writesthat a fear, as if a bang could somehow affect vision is nothing more than a myth. For any consequences, three unlikely factors should be formed: firstly, the visual system should be in the stage of formation, secondly, the bang should completely deprive the child of vision on one eye, thirdly, the effect should last all the time of wakefulness.

Thus, neither too long, nor asymmetric bangs should not be afraid - such hairstyles will not hurt vision, especially if you have already come out of preschool age. Ambliopia, or the syndrome of the lazy eye, develops in childhood and only because of the accompanying disturbances in vision, moreover, it lends itself well to treatment.

Image on the cover: Tressemme