• Question: why do our eyes see better when we squint them, as there is less light, and similarly, why do we see better when water is over our eyes (because i wear contact lenses and I've experienced it a lot), if you respond, thanks!

    Asked by anon-220967 on 20 Jun 2019.
    • Photo: Matthew Bareford

      Matthew Bareford answered on 20 Jun 2019:

      1 – our eyes can see better when we squint, because we are actually stretching the muscles in the eyes a little bit more and this will help with focus. The downside to this is that it is not good for those muscles or our eyes and sop we can do it for too long or often without discomfort. Less light can help with this, as it means there are less other things to filter out.

      2- water over our eyes can help you see clearer depending upon whether you are near sighted/far sighted or perfect vision. High pressure, caused by the water will mean that images seem nearer, therefore near sighted people can experience better vision underwater

    • Photo: Shobhana Nagraj

      Shobhana Nagraj answered on 20 Jun 2019: last edited 20 Jun 2019 7:07 pm

      I think Matthew has answered this really well. It is about focusing our lens using the eye muscles through squinting.

    • Photo: Kaitlin Wade

      Kaitlin Wade answered on 20 Jun 2019:

      Matthew’s answered really well so not sure I could have said it better!

    • Photo: Nina Rzechorzek

      Nina Rzechorzek answered on 21 Jun 2019:

      Great answers there from Matthew!

    • Photo: Deepak Chandrasekharan

      Deepak Chandrasekharan answered on 27 Jun 2019:

      When you squint, you narrow the area through which light can get into your eye so less irrelevant light gets in. If you make a tiny hole in some card or using your hand and fingers and look through it at something far away it’ll look clearer.
      This is a fun article on it!
      http://Www.wired.com/2015/01/whats-squinting-helps-see-better/amp

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