Staring at computer screens may be causing chronic eye ailments.

[snagglepuss]

A very informative article about eye ailments. Something I had never read before is that bifocals aren't the best choice for patients with Computer Vision Syndrome CVS. "In those patients, the reading portion of the glasses is too weak for the computer, while the distance portion is too strong.

She recommends "computer glasses" for adults afflicted with CVS. She says such glasses are bifocals modified specifically for computer use alone. She also recommends making sure computer screens, as well as eyeglasses, are anti-glare.""


snip

Digital screen users get CVS because their eyes have to work harder when reading a screen compared with reading paper. As well, people tend to blink less when looking at a screen, which results in dry eyes.

It's a new-millennium affliction many sufferers don't know they have. Symptoms include dry or watery eyes, eye redness, blurred vision, double vision, headaches and sensitivity to light



Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/life/story.html?id=2273112#ixzz0Y8qyhWS1

[doodadem]

1. Whoa! That's me.

I thought it was just because my glasses are so overdue to be changed.

Thanks for posting.

[pnwmom]

2. When we were kids the common wisdom was that sitting too close to a TV

wasn't good for our eyes. I've often wondered why it was okay to stare at a monitor all day long and not a TV.

[snagglepuss]

4. I've often wondered about that myself.

IMO a very useful piece of info in the article is that looking straight at or down at the screen is best because the eyelids don't need to be open wide which only dries out the eyes.

[Better Today]

3. I've solved both my puter screen and bi-focal issues in a unique

way. First I do not have bi-focals, I can read paper type by removing my glasses, or. . . since the current style is narrow across the face, I just look under or over my glasses for upclose paper reading.

For the computer I find that if I lower my glasses on my nose, similar to the way I've seen many wear their little reading half glasses, the computer screen comes into perfect focus. Now my normal glasses are corrected to 425-450 range for near-sightedness, so I don't know if this would work for folks with less correction, but it works for me.

I like this because I was never comfortable with the one pair of bifocals I got. I seemed to always have to be adjusting them or the angle of my viewing to be able to see what I intended to. Also I found walking took on a whole new meaning as the lower portion of the glasses just never let me really see in that peripheral sort of way where my feet we going. I nearly broke myself missing a step going down the stairs, so those glasses were never worn again.

Anyway, I hope this sliding of near-sighted glasses helps a few who may not be in a position to get fancy new glasses.

Edited to add: Oh, I'm also not sure if my big nose is a help in this, I suppose someone with a petite nose may not be able to slide the glasses far enough away without falling off. (/snark on self's nose)

[DavidDvorkin]

5. I've had a pair of computer glasses for years

Very satisfied with them.

The drawback is that it means paying for one more pair of lenses when my prescription changes, and it meant an additional frame at the beginning.

[Warpy]

6. Vanity bifocals work well for a desktop

because there's a mid range area in the middle that works beautifully at that distance from the monitor.

I find I use the lower portion when I'm on the laptop because it's a bit closer.

Sometimes I don't even have to use ctrl+scroll!

[gkhouston]

7. I love progressive bifocals. I actually got my first pair for computer work, years

before I needed bifocals for ordinary reading. I didn't have any trouble adjusting to bifocals at all, and I've always thought it was because I got them early, when the "add" (difference between top and bottom of the lens) was relatively small.

[Warpy]

8. Mine was fairly large when I finally sighed and bit the bullet

but I was used to them by the time I got to the bottom of the stairs outside the optometrist's office.

I had a pair of emergency glasses with the line some years later and never got used to them.

[hedgehog]

9. I found that when I worked on the computer with my multifocal lens

(transitional glasses), I ended up with a stiff neck and shoulder. I was holding my head all day at the specific angle to use the portion of the lens that had the right focal distance. A good pair of drug store cheaters took care of that problem.

[gkhouston]

10. I haven't had that problem, but then I sit pretty far back from the screen.

It's a holdover from the days when sat in my chair with my feet on the desk and the keyboard in my lap. :blush: Still do that sometimes. Also, I like having a large middle-distance corridor (or so I've been told by opticians who apparently didn't get the corridors in the right place the first time, despite allegedly having taken careful measurements. I've given up on going to the places covered by my insurance, as they repeatedly get my bifocals wrong. There's another business, not on my insurance, which always gets it right the first time.