# Why does squinting make you see more clearly? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 10, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-squinting-make-you-see-more-clearly/560231 "2010-11-10T21:46:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![abel29a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@abel29a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abel29a)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-squinting-make-you-see-more-clearly/560231/21 "2010-11-12T16:42:13Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > I’ll be damned. I’m blind as a bat without my glasses and I’ve never tried this. Here I am holding my fist up to my eye and reading the calendar, the monitor, etc . . . Heh, having the exact same wow feeling here 🙂 Learning something new… ---
**Author:** ![Razncain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@Razncain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Razncain)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-squinting-make-you-see-more-clearly/560231/22 "2010-11-12T21:35:02Z")
I’m nearsighted, and I had always assumed squinting making you see better was from the slight pressure put on the eyeball, so guess I’ve been wrong about this. I do know for the last four or five driving tests, I’ve always been able to squint just enough to pass the eye test for my driver’s license without requiring any eyeglasses. Has anyone else done this? 😃 If I didn’t squint, I would’t pass. Is there any truth to us all becoming slightly more far-sighted as we age? My eye tests used to be a bit over -2.00 in my teens and early twenties for the SPH which is short for sphere, and I think means what size lens would be required to correct it. I’m looking at my latest eye test from three years ago. At age 49, one eye is -.75 and the other -1.50 again showing up under SPH. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-squinting-make-you-see-more-clearly/560231.md?page=1)