How can I stop my eye from changing?

Yesterday, my brother-in-law asked me if there is anything he can do to prevent his eyes from getting worse. I think about these things differently than most people do, so I had to ask him some clarifying questions. What I figured out is that he, like most people, is worried about changing refractive error. An eye that has a refractive error is one that benefits from contact lenses or glasses. As an ophthalmologist, I tend not to think that there is anything “wrong” with an eye that needs contact lenses or glasses. I do encourage people who are unsatisfied with their need for glasses or contact lenses to have laser vision correction (provided they are good candidates). However, I would never tell them that there is anything “wrong” with their eyes. What I had to tell my brother=in-law is that there is little that is proven to prevent refractive error changes, especially once one is into his 30s. This is perhaps bad news, but I think it is good news too! I tell people that they don’t really need to worry about making their eyes “worse” by watching TV, reading, etc. since we can’t really impact our refractive errors through behavior. Hopefully we can all feel liberated by this!