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Christopher Polk / Getty Images
Call it the great one-day (we hope) lazy eye panic.
It started, apparently, with a story in the Australian tabloid Daily Telegraph, which quoted an Aussie eye doctor as indicting the hair-over-one-eye hairstyles of Cameron Diaz and Nicole Richie (those of us into old movies prefer Veronica Lake), and countless emo boys and girls, as causing lazy eye, or amblyopia.
Then the story made its way to The Huffington Post. By the time msnbc.com contacted Dr. Leonard Press, the New Jersey eye specialist who co-authored the clinical practice guidelines on amblyopia for the American Optometric Association, the assistant who picked up the phone said “You mean the hair-over-the-eyes thing?”
Press could barely suppress a chuckle.
Amblyopia, a condition of reduced vision in which the brain does not recognize some or all of the information the eye sees, is indeed a serious eye problem, he said, and one of the reasons it’s serious is that, if left untreated in children younger than 7 years old, a very concerted, sometimes difficult, effort has to be made to correct the lazy eye. That’s because after about age 7, the neural and optical mechanisms involved have been well established, and changing them is tough going.
That’s exactly the reason why Nicole Richie is safe.
“The story would only be true,” he explained, “if you had somebody young enough, and if that person never looked out of that eye -- if it was blocked 24-7. The reason it’s false is that you don’t have that constant deprivation.”
The visual system, Press said, “is so well-established” after childhood, that “combing your hair over your eye will not do anything to that system.”
So don’t worry all you emo boys and girls. By the time mother and father give in to whatever hairstyle you want, any eye problems won’t be the result of your comb-over. Laser lights, well, that could be another story.
Brian Alexander (www.BrianRAlexander.com) is co-author, with Larry Young, PhD., of "The Chemistry Between Us: Love Sex and the Science of Attraction," (www.TheChemistryBetweenUs.com) to be published Sept. 13.
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Sorry to prove him wrong, at age of 8 had 20/20. Then I let my hair grow out, yep, over my left eye it stayed for a year, one year, went back to doc. Lazy eye in my left eye, at that time, in the 60s there was nothing they could do. Meet two other gentelmen who had the same problem. No one in my family had it. Hmmmm ????
In the early 1970's, all us guys grew our hair out, but kept the side part we had when we had shot hair. If this were true about 40 million guys from that era would now have an lazy eye. The only thing I got from it was crooked glasses.
I would think some kind of infection or trauma, like a stick to the eye or a bad hop on a ground ball is more likely. I gave up baseball in the 60's because we practiced with rubber coated balls, those thing were always whizzing by my head. The coach would say stay down on the ball, under my breath I was saying "no way in hell am I going to take another grounder to the mouth".
Sig; grow it out and part it on the other side this time, it might even out???
I used to tell my step son that wearing his pants gangster style was going to affect his penis - boy, your penis isn't a kick stand for your pants. When he got to be about 17yo the doctor told his mom his testicles were under sized.
I told my step daughter that constantly using her cell phone was going to give her cancer - 3 years later she died of leukemia. Doctors now tell young teen boys not to put their cell phone near their testicles (in the front pocket)... this stuff seems like common sense to me. It should at least make you question what you are doing.
In the case of my step daughter, she was also 300#, on her death bed she apologised profusely for not listening to our warnings. You feel like crap when you warn them and something actually does happen, but I don't believe I jinxed her, like I said, it's common sense to put 2 & 2 together.
My vision was pretty good as a kid. Now, I need glasses, and my left eye is degrading very slightly faster than the right. It's the same for my mother, and my youngest brother is legally blind in his left eye (the right compensates, and he kept losing the glasses that were supposed to fix it when he was younger).
None of us ever had hair consistently hanging over one eye. The left halves of our bodies are just weird. (Yes, it goes beyond our eyes.)
Am 57 and last year after going to a vision Therapist and one month of fairly simple eye exercises I now have depth perception. So if you still have none try below.
Good description of the problems. .
This is where I got the Doctor referral. and
Here is the book I read proving it’s note to late. .
Sorry I guess the links don't stick. anyway the one link you need is COVD.ORG the book is called StereoSue
Why do they keep saying emo? Just because you wear your hair like that does not make you emo!!! (yes, some emo people wear their hair like that, but a lot of people who are not emo do as well)
Meh, emo is a musical style, not a hairstyle. They could call it "scene hair" as that's a pretty popular term, but it's still not very accurate. For lack of a better description, though, let them go with it.
Thank you! As someone with amblyopia, I found this meme to be rather annoying.
I was sure it was ot the cause of lazy eye , but i can say for sure that there are a lot more eye infections in forlks who let their hair have endless hours of access to spread germs into the eyeball area... especially if it has hairstray or various hair care products on it and is depositing those chemicals into the eyeball ares
Now THAT actually makes sense!
Yes it does. No it doesn't.
Yes it does. No it doesn't.
Yes it does. No it doesn't.
Yes it does. No it doesn't.
Yes it does. No it doesn't.
Duh?
I had amblyopia as a child. It was horrible. It was back in the 60's and the treatment was a patch clipped on my glasses over my "good" eye.
And now all you need is Disney and Justin the Bieber
"No, side bangs will not give you a lazy eye"
I'm sorry, but: THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!
No, of course having one's hair in one's eyes has absolutely no effect on one's ability to see. Hair is subject to the inherent x ray capabilities of human vision. All mankind is capable of seeing through hair. Next the idea that hair in the eyeballs could ever result in irritation to the eyeballs or scratches or disabling contact is ridiculous--Disney knows best and everyone must have hair in the eyeballs (together with Mickey Mouse ears) to be hip and cool and in with the rodent.
Side bangs will give you lazy eye, eye infections, disease and potential blindness and those other side bangs will probably also give you STDs
It didn't give Hitler, the original emo, a lazy eye.
Why in hell do you think he slept in on D-Day? Active eye syndrome?
I have been a cosmetologist for 20 years and have clients who have gotten side bangs for years and they have NEVER gotten lazy eye or any other "side" effect.
Side bangs for 43 years, no lazy eye yet. Veronica Lake and I say this lazy eye stuff is all bunk.
I particularly enjoy hair flapping into my eyes at windspeeds about 45 mph
Yes, and parting your hair down the middle will give you a.......... wait for it.... wait for it.... a 'splitting' headache.!!!!!!!!!!!!! tee hee hee!!!!
Question anyone who calls themselves a doctor, because most know a whole lot less then they think.
Question anyone who calls themselves a doctor, because most know a whole lot less then they think.
Question anyone who calls themselves a doctor, because most know a whole lot less then they think.
Just like 'Hannah' above, in my tween/teen years, I was FORCED to wear a black/brown 'pirates' patch glued over my right eye for an 'eternity'--psychologically devastating, but some minor improvement. I never was born with nor recovered to 20/20; even Lasik turned me down; now right eye is doing poorly due to stroke. Hair length/cover is immaterial. Amblyopia is a life-long birth defect.
I too, have a lazy eye. Yet, I have never had side bangs. I was born with it. I also had the whole eye patch thing which was never glued to my eye. It adhered to my eyebrow like a bandage, and there were many times when I felt like I no longer had eyebrows. I did not have glasses at the time. I was "treated" when I was five years old. The glasses didn't come until nine years later. Even now, if I am really tired the lazy eye can be noticed.
Me too, Kelly, born with lazy left eye, Mom forced me to wear eye patch for awhile, I hated it, took it off every chance I got. Now at age 74 I can still cross that one eye to my nose. Never wore hair over one eye, so that couldn't possibly cause the lazy eye.
The whole emo stereotype at the beginning was offensive, their are plenty of other groups that wear their bangs in their face, no need to go all stereotypical here and bash on one group.
Typical of an Aussie, they are usually so full o'crap that their eyes are brown. See them here all the time with ugly shaved bald heads and trailing a outback woman so ugly wildebeests look better. Then they open the mouth and the accent will drive you nuts! People are divergent so you cant group them by alphabet disorders or generalise them into neat little descriptions.
I've had side bangs for years and my vision is still 20/20. No lazy eye here. What rubbish!
Car accident women could not see, eye covered SUE SUE !!