Myopia Management Blog

Regular eye exams are crucial for individuals with refractive errors like nearsightedness or farsightedness. Eyeglasses and contact lenses help correct these vision issues, but even a slight change in vision can impact the comfort and effectiveness of your eyewear.

Can wearing the wrong prescription lenses harm your eyes? Let's find out.

Choosing the best computer glasses for you

In an increasingly digital age, we spend more time each day staring at our computers, watching TV and tinkering on our smartphones and tablets. All that screen time can add up to a lot of eye strain. But blue-light-blocking computer glasses can offer relief.

What are computer glasses and how do they block blue light? What is blue light? What kind of blue light glasses are there? Our guide will help you select the best computer glasses for you.

What are computer glasses?

Computer glasses have specially coated lenses designed to relax your eyes while using a computer. The lenses are designed to help prevent digital eye strain, headaches, dry eyes, blurred vision and other symptoms of digital eye strain.

Prescription and non-prescription computer glasses are available.

Not sure if your monitor is far enough from your eyes? If your screen is about an arm’s length away, it’s the perfect distance from your eyes.

SEE RELATED: Do blue light glasses work?

What is blue light?

Electronics like your smartphone, computer and TV give off blue light. That light can disrupt your sleep cycles and make it hard to get restful sleep.

So, if anyone has ever cautioned you to put your phone away an hour or so before bed, they gave you sound advice.

Computer glasses are similar to the night mode on a smartphone. They block blue light to help your body maintain a natural day-night cycle.

Computer glasses also make it more comfortable to look at your screen and easier to focus on the work at hand, no matter the time of day.

What does bilateral myopia mean?

Myopia (nearsightedness) is a vision impairment that causes difficulty in focusing on objects and signs that are far away. The condition is common among children and adults and can occur in one or both eyes. When it occurs in both eyes, it is called bilateral myopia.

Although bilateral myopia affects both eyes, the degree of vision prescription for each myopic eye may vary.

What causes bilateral myopia?

Bilateral myopia occurs when each eyeball is longer than normal, or when the cornea and/or lens is too curved. In rare cases, it can be due to the location of the lens and cornea relative to each other. A combination of these factors can also be responsible for bilateral myopia.

Bilateral myopia is typically detected in childhood, and it is more likely to occur if there is a family history of the condition.

SEE RELATED: What’s the difference between nearsightedness and farsightedness?

Symptoms of bilateral myopia

Bilateral myopia affects visual acuity in both eyes. This means symptoms are usually experienced in both eyes at the same time. Some common symptoms of bilateral myopia include:

• Blurred vision
• Squinting the eyes to see far-away objects more clearly
• Headaches
• Eye strain

Vision changes with age, so these symptoms can reoccur over time. This is often an indicator that your vision prescription needs to be updated. In some cases, vision may become weaker in one eye over time while the other eye remains the same.

You might be surprised by the notion of overnight vision correction. How could contact lenses possibly correct your vision while you sleep? Well, for starters, these are no ordinary contact lenses – these are Ortho K lenses. They’re designed to gently reshape the surface of your eye and in doing so, can correct many cases of short-sightedness. Once these lenses get to work at night and you remove them when you wake up in the morning, you won’t need to wear glasses or normal contact lenses during the day. Instead, you’ll experience crystal clear, pristine vision and freedom, of course.

Who is a candidate for OVC?
Nearsighted individuals who are too young for LASIK surgery or for some other reason are not good candidates for vision correction surgery. Because it can be discontinued at any time without permanent change to the eye, people of any age can try the procedure, as long as their eyes are healthy.
People who participate in sports, or who work in dusty, dirty environments that can make contact lens wear difficult.

How to Limit Your Child's Screen Time?

While unlimited time with electronics may keep your child busy, you don't want them to have too much screentime. That said, setting limits on TV and video games for kids isn't always easy in today's screen-filled world. Here are 10 tips parents can use to decide how much screentime is reasonable for their kids.

• Model Healthy Electronic Use
• Educate Yourself on Electronics
• Create “Technology-Free Zones”
• Set Aside Times to Unplug
• Use Parental Controls
• Explain Why You're Limiting Screen Time
• Ask for Your Child’s Passwords
• Encourage Other Activities
• Make Screen Time a Privilege
• Keep Your Child’s Bedroom Screen-Free

What is pathologic myopia?

Pathologic myopia is characterized by the presence of degenerative damage in the eyes. It is often the result of high myopia but can also occur in eyes that have not progressed to high myopia. Pathologic myopia (formerly myopic degeneration) is less common than high myopia and can lead to blindness.

Myopia (nearsightedness) is a common refractive error that makes faraway objects look blurry. Progressive myopia is nearsightedness that gets worse year after year. High myopia is a severe degree of nearsightedness. It can also lead to serious eye complications and blindness.

Pathologic myopia is not a degree of nearsightedness. It is a form of myopia that is diagnosed if specific types of degenerative damage develop at the back of the eye.

Degenerative means that the damage is progressive and reduces the tissues' ability to function. This is why pathologic myopia used to be called myopic degeneration or degenerative myopia.