Does a person's eyes grow, what happens with age

A person's face changes with age. Nose, ears grow, features change. But imperceptibly, whether the eyes of a person grow . Or the size does not change and remains the same throughout life? The eye has a spherical shape and a mass of 7–8 g. The size of this organ of vision in different people varies by several millimeters.

Normal size

baby eyes

At birth, the weight of the eyes is 3 g and increases as a person grows. But do human eyes grow in diameter? This is a complex organ, its size throughout life remains constant. Color can be different: from blue to almost black. The eye consists of the following parts:

  • sclera;
  • pupil;
  • cornea;
  • irises;
  • retina
  • the lens
  • muscle
  • blood vessels;
  • nerves.

Almost all people have the same size of this part of the body. Average values ​​depend on the axis along which measurements are taken. They may vary slightly. Average values:

  • sagittal axis - 24 mm;
  • horizontal - 23.6 mm;
  • vertical - 23.3 mm.

The volume of "mirrors of the soul" of an adult is up to 7.5 cm 3 . The biconvex lens is 9–10 mm long and up to 5 mm thick. The curvature of the front wall is in the range up to 10 mm, the rear - up to 6 mm.

Features in newborns

At birth, the vision of a young child is different from that of an adult. As newborns and older children see, these are two different things. The baby distinguishes objects at a distance of 40 cm, does not know how to hold his eyes. The world for him is represented by colorful spots.

newborn eyes

Sometimes a child starts up in bright light, but this happens due to congenital reflexes. The first 2 weeks the baby only adapts to new conditions. In the third week, the newborn begins to distinguish colors, can partially see large objects.

By the end of the first month of life, the child can follow bright objects, perceive large toys. In the second month, a reaction to loved ones and familiar objects appears. He can respond to mom or a baby formula bottle.

The child does not see small objects and details. His world consists of bright outlines, because he may not distinguish some shades. If the children's room has a lot of calm colors, then you should add bright colors so that the baby can pay attention to them.

Children from birth may have farsightedness. This is a variant of the norm and can independently go up to 7 years.

Age changes

eye change with age

A person’s organ of vision changes weight with age, but does a person’s eyes grow in volume? In the first 3 years, the child forms a visual center in the cerebral cortex. Visual acuity is minimal. For this reason, the child sees only spots. Vision after birth is 0.02 units. By 6 years, the indicator reaches 0.9 units. To school, vision is leveled and becomes equal to one.

A person grows, but there are practically no eyeballs. The ratio of eye weight to newborn weight is 0.24%, over time, the indicator changes and becomes equal to 0.02%. The front lens of the newborn is 2 mm, adult - 3 mm.

Does the size of the eye and lens change with age? The density and volume of this part increases with age, its size is 9-10 mm. Elasticity decreases over the years. In adulthood, the anterior lens capsule thickens.

Why are they shrinking?

adult eyes

Does a person's eyes grow? We found out that this is practically not happening. Then the question arises, but is this organ reduced?

Visually, it may seem that the eyes have decreased if the features of the face have become larger, the neck and chin have dropped, and the eyelids are hanging over them. Aging has a negative effect on shape and incision.

Over time, the fat layer of the eyelids becomes thinner, wrinkles become apparent, the elasticity of the forehead muscles decreases. The upper eyelids hang over the eyes, which leads to their visual reduction. This occurs for the following reasons:

  • UV exposure;
  • weakening of the muscles of the face;
  • decrease in skin elasticity;
  • swelling
  • excess weight.

The size of the eyes does not change, therefore, to the question whether a person’s eyes are growing, we can unequivocally answer that no. But overhanging skin, weakened eyelids visually reduce them. The older the person, the smaller the “mirror of the soul” seems due to the large number of wrinkles around them.

Corneal growth

The dynamics of growth and development of the cornea depends on age. In newborns, the diameter of the cornea is 9 mm, then it grows to 11.5 mm. She ceases to be 2 years old. Corneal refraction changes due to an increase in radius.

In a newborn, the curvature is 7 mm, in an adult, it can reach 8 mm. The area of ​​the cornea of ​​the eye is 1.3 cm 2 . This is 15 times less than the total area of ​​the eyeball. Moreover, its weight is only 180 mg. The radius of curvature reaches 8 mm, in men the figure is more by 1.5%. The thickness of the cornea is in the range from 0.1 to 0.3 mm. This part of the eye refracts rays of light and directs them to the retina. Refraction reaches 40 diopters.

The size of the eye does not change throughout life, but its weight becomes larger. The diameter and density of the lens also increase. If the size of the organ of vision goes beyond the norm, then this is a pathology.


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