Dr David Gunn Featured in The Courier-Mail: Keratoconus, Eye Rubbing and the Short-Sightedness Surge

Last reviewed: 2 Sept 2026 by Dr David Gunn , FRANZCO • 7 min read

Dr David Gunn in navy Focus Vision scrubs seated beside a young patient lying under the laser at the Brisbane laser eye surgery suite, both smiling before the procedure.

Dr David Gunn was one of 39 Australian ophthalmologists featured in The Courier-Mail on 2 September 2026, in a health-section survey by Ruby Kraner-Tucci on why short-sightedness is surging in young Australians. Every surgeon answered the same four questions: the biggest trend they see, the biggest mistake people make with their eyes, their top tip, and what they do for their own eyes. The article is online in The Courier-Mail’s health guides (subscription) and was syndicated to the Herald Sun.

The Courier-Mail article header: the headline reads Ophthalmologists urge eye checks as rates of short-sightedness surge in young people, under the Courier-Mail masthead, with the standfirst, Ruby Kraner-Tucci's byline and the 2 September 2026 date.

Dr Gunn’s answers to The Courier-Mail

Most of the 39 answered the trend question with short-sightedness itself. Dr Gunn, listed for Focus Vision and the Queensland Eye Institute, answered with keratoconus, the condition in which the cornea thins and bulges into a cone. New treatments have arrived, and the profession has worked out that the condition is far more common than it was taught to believe: about 1 in 84 Australians, not 1 in 2,000.

Dr David Gunn's entry in The Courier-Mail's list of 39 surgeons: his portrait, the line Focus Vision, Queensland Eye Institute, QLD, 10 years' practising, and his answer on keratoconus being closer to one in 84 Australians.

His biggest mistake was rubbing the eyes, which can push the front of the eye permanently out of shape; if the eyes itch, “sort out the allergy instead of grinding away at them”. His top tip was not to ignore a change in vision, and to have the eyes scanned early, because a problem caught early leaves more ways to fix it. For his own eyes: hands away from them, sunglasses outdoors, and screen breaks on the 20-20-20 rule.

What the other 38 surgeons said

The paper’s premise was that young Australians are becoming short-sighted earlier and to a higher degree than any generation before them. The surgeons blamed more time on screens and less time outdoors. Almost 60 per cent named skipping regular eye checks as the biggest mistake patients make, because glaucoma and macular disease damage vision before anything feels wrong. About 20 per cent said patients now ask for surgery earlier, to be less dependent on glasses. Four warned against rubbing the eyes. The collective advice was at least two hours a day outdoors for children, and the 20-20-20 rule for adults on screens: every 20 minutes, look at something about six metres (20 feet) away for 20 seconds.

Short-sightedness is rising, and screens are part of it

Short-sightedness (myopia) means the eye has grown slightly too long for its focusing power, so distant objects blur. In the Sydney Adolescent Vascular and Eye Study, myopia in 12-year-olds of European background almost doubled in six years, from 4.4 to 8.6 per cent (French et al., Ophthalmology 2013), and the 2016 Holden analysis of 2.1 million people projected that half the world will be myopic by 2050 (Holden et al., Ophthalmology 2016). Outdoor time roughly halves a child’s risk (Xiong et al., Acta Ophthalmologica 2017), and each extra hour of daily screen time is associated with 21 per cent higher odds (Ha et al., JAMA Network Open 2025), which is the evidence behind the two-hours-outdoors advice. Slowing myopia in a child is the work of optometrists and paediatric ophthalmologists, with low-dose atropine and myopia-control lenses. Dr Gunn’s practice is adult vision correction and corneal disease, including keratoconus in teenagers, and no adult procedure shortens a long eye, so a highly short-sighted patient needs retinal checks for life however well they see.

Keratoconus is 1 in 84, not 1 in 2,000

The old figure of about 1 in 2,000 came from a 48-year study of Olmsted County, Minnesota that relied on the clinical signs visible at the time (Kennedy et al., American Journal of Ophthalmology 1986). Modern corneal imaging changed the number. A Dutch study of 4.4 million insured patients put it at 1 in 375 (Godefrooij et al., American Journal of Ophthalmology 2017), and the figure Dr Gunn gave the paper comes from the Raine Study in Perth, which scanned 1,259 twenty-year-olds with a Pentacam and found keratoconus in 1.2 per cent, or 1 in 84 (Chan et al., Ophthalmology 2021).

Keratoconus typically declares itself in the teens and twenties as increasing myopia and astigmatism, usually worse in one eye, which is why it belongs in a story about short-sightedness. A young person whose prescription keeps changing needs a corneal scan, not another pair of lenses. The treatments have changed as much as the numbers. Corneal cross-linking stiffens the cornea and halts progression in most eyes. For eyes that have already lost vision, CAIRS reshapes the cornea with segments of donor tissue in laser-cut channels. Dr Gunn performed Australia’s first CAIRS procedure in May 2021, and his published Brisbane series covers 85 eyes of 75 patients, with 43.7 per cent gaining five or more lines of unaided distance vision (Gunn, Cox and Cronin, Clinical & Experimental Ophthalmology 2026). On 24 August 2026 he performed a CAIRS case with the surgical view displayed in an Apple Vision Pro headset, an Australian first.

Stop rubbing your eyes

Hard, repeated rubbing puts real mechanical stress on a cornea about half a millimetre thick. In most eyes nothing comes of it. In an eye with a tendency to keratoconus, rubbing is strongly associated with the cornea thinning and steepening, and the damage does not reverse. It is why Dr Gunn asks patients about eye rubbing as a matter of routine. The rubbing usually has a cause, and the cause is what needs treating: in Brisbane that is most often allergy, which responds to antihistamine and mast-cell-stabiliser drops, cold compresses and preservative-free lubricants. Dry eye, blepharitis and contact-lens overwear are the other common triggers. If you or a family member has keratoconus, the rule is simpler: hands off, and treat the itch.

Act on a change in your vision

Changes worth acting on are blur or distortion that new glasses do not fully clear, ghosting on lights at night, a prescription that has moved at two consecutive visits, and one eye that has become worse than the other. That last one is easy to miss, because the better eye covers for the weaker one whenever both are open. Cover each eye in turn and compare how much detail you can read at distance, a number plate or a street sign, and do the same with your children every few months. If one eye is clearly worse, book an optometrist appointment and say so. An optometrist who suspects keratoconus can refer directly to Dr Gunn for corneal tomography.

Surgery for short-sighted adults

One in five of the surveyed surgeons said patients now ask about surgery earlier. Dr Gunn performs LASIK, Trans-PRK and CLEAR at Focus Vision in Woolloongabba, and was the first surgeon in Australia to perform CLEAR. A cornea that is too thin, or a prescription beyond what the cornea can safely give up, is better served by an implantable contact lens (ICL); for patients over about 50, lens replacement corrects distance and reading vision in one procedure. Laser candidates have corneal tomography with a Pentacam scan before any recommendation is made, which is also where early keratoconus is found, and Dr Gunn will say when surgery is not the right option. A free 60-second suitability test is a reasonable first filter.

See Dr Gunn in Brisbane

Dr Gunn consults at the Queensland Eye Institute in South Brisbane and Clayfield, and performs laser eye surgery at Focus Vision, Level 1, 87 Ipswich Road, Woolloongabba. If your prescription keeps changing, one eye has become worse than the other, or you want to know whether you are suitable for vision correction, make an appointment, or take the suitability test first and bring the result with you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where was Dr David Gunn featured in The Courier-Mail?

In the health section on 2 September 2026, in a survey of 39 Australian ophthalmologists by Ruby Kraner-Tucci on rising short-sightedness in young people. Each surgeon answered the same four questions. Dr Gunn is listed for Focus Vision and the Queensland Eye Institute in Brisbane. The piece was also syndicated to the Herald Sun.

What did Dr David Gunn say in the article?

His biggest trend was keratoconus: new treatments have arrived, and the condition affects about 1 in 84 Australians rather than the 1 in 2,000 once taught. His biggest mistake was rubbing the eyes, which can push the front of the eye out of shape for good. His top tip was not to ignore a change in vision and to have the eyes scanned early. For his own eyes he keeps his hands away from them, wears sunglasses outdoors and takes screen breaks on the 20-20-20 rule.

How common is keratoconus?

Far more common than the old textbook figure of about 1 in 2,000. A Dutch insurance-database study in 2017 put it at 1 in 375, and the Raine Study in Perth, which scanned 1,259 twenty-year-olds with a Pentacam, found keratoconus in 1.2 per cent, or 1 in 84. It usually starts in the teens and twenties as increasing short-sightedness and astigmatism, often worse in one eye.

Why is rubbing your eyes a problem?

Hard, repeated rubbing puts mechanical stress on the cornea and is strongly associated with keratoconus. In an eye that is already predisposed, rubbing can push the cornea out of shape permanently. If your eyes itch, treat the allergy with antihistamine drops, cold compresses and lubricants instead of rubbing, and take care when removing eye makeup.

What should you do if your vision changes?

See an optometrist promptly and ask for a corneal scan rather than waiting for the next routine check. Blurred or distorted vision, a prescription that keeps changing, or one eye that has become worse than the other are the warning signs. Caught early, keratoconus can be stabilised with corneal cross-linking; caught late, the options are fewer and the surgery bigger.

Can laser eye surgery cure short-sightedness?

Laser eye surgery corrects the focusing error so that most patients no longer need glasses or contact lenses for distance. It does not shorten an eye that has grown long, so the lifetime risks that come with high myopia remain and regular eye checks are still needed. Dr Gunn offers LASIK, Trans-PRK and CLEAR, and implantable contact lenses for eyes not suited to laser.