Tag: glare

Do I have Cataracts?

Karen Griffith

Cataracts are typically caused by age. Sometimes, ultraviolet exposure, smoking and medications can speed their development. If you live long enough, cataracts will develop.

Cataracts are located inside your eye. The lens becomes yellow and cloudy. Symptoms tend to occur gradually with night time glare, blur and color changes.

Cataracts can also cause changes in your glasses prescription. Usually the eyes become more nearsighted. If vision can be improved with glasses a new prescription is written. At some point even new glasses can’t correct the vision and surgery is the best alternative. Cataract surgery is the most successful and commonly performed surgical procedure in the United States.

New technologies have improved implant options. The intra-ocular lens (IOL) replaces the cloudy crystalline lens (cataract) that is causing vision impairment in your eye. “Premium” IOLs include options to correct astigmatism and presbyopia. this can reduce the need for glasses after cataract surgery.

Nearly 20% of Americans over 40 years old have cataracts in one or both eyes. Schedule an eye examination so an accurate diagnosis can be made.

Vision at Work

Karen Griffith

According to a 2015 survey of employed US adults who had vision benefits, 92% of the respondents felt that the quality of their work was impacted by visual disturbances at the workplace. Only 13% reported this fact to their employer, even though 99% of them felt that seeing well was important. More than half of those surveyed said they were bothered by light issues at work. The top light issues or visual disturbances were tired eyes, light reflecting off a computer screen, bright glaring light, dry eyes and headaches.

When I first started my optometry career I had a huge book dedicated to occupational eye care. The book was published before the ubiquitous use of computers so the content of the book included various types of bifocals and lens designs to meet the demands of secretaries, carpenters and other occupations. There was a chapter dedicated to the wielding profession and the proper selection of tints and protective eyewear. The proper design of eyewear and safety are still very important, but more complaints involve computers and electronic devices than 25 years ago.

65% of Americans report suffering from digital eyestrain. Symptoms of digital eyestrain include neck pain, eye strain, blurred vision, headache and dry eyes. A combination of factors foster the onset of digital eye strain, including the proximity of the screen, the frequency and duration of use and the degree of exposure to high-energy visible (HEV) or blue light emitted by video screens. You don’t need to suffer. Poor vision and compromised visual working conditions reduce our productivity. Solutions are available to relieve and minimize digital eyestrain.

Eyes on the Road

Karen Griffith

Shorter days and rainy weather, both contribute to difficulty driving. A driver’s vision guides 90% of driving decisions, so good eyesight is essential for road safety.

On the Road

Start with an eye examination to assess clarity, peripheral vision and eye disease. Having the proper vision skills and prescription are important for many reasons:

Distance vision is imperative for judging distances and reaction time when driving. Poor distance vision increases the risk of making unreliable judgments with potentially disastrous results – even the simplest reactions take 0.4 seconds, so if distance vision is poor, signs or objects may not be seen until it is too late to react safely.

Good Peripheral Vision allows drivers to survey the area without looking away from the road. This includes early recognition of cross-traffic, pedestrians, animals, signs and changes in traffic flow. Impaired peripheral vision can result in the driver failing to react to a hazard on the far left or right, failing to stop at a stoplight suspended over an intersection, weaving while negotiating a curve, or driving too close to parked cars.

Safe Night Driving requires the ability to see in low light conditions and with poor contrast. Impaired night vision can result in tailgating, failing to steer when necessary (since it is difficult to see low contrast features such as edges or irregularities in the road surface), and recover from glare of oncoming headlights.

Glare refers to the disruption of vision due to veiling luminance. Important visual skills for drivers are glare resistance – the extent to which the driver can still see critical objects while facing a steady source of glare (setting sun, headlights), and glare recovery – the rapidity with which the driver’s functioning vision returns to what it was before the glare was encountered. If these skills are not adequate, the driver can miss curves, strike an animal or pedestrian or crash into slow moving or stopped vehicles.

Besides regular eye exams, additional tips for good vision while driving include:

  • Always wear sunglasses when driving to reduce glare
  • Keep headlights, tail lights , windshields and eye glasses clean
  • Keep side and rear view mirrors adjusted correctly to increase your field of vision and reduce glare from headlights
  • Always wear glasses or contact lenses if they have been prescribed for driving

Mahalo Mothers

Karen Griffith

MJ Mother's Day 2015

Mothers day is coming soon and a pair of Maui Jim Sunglasses is the perfect way to show mom your appreciation. Westside Optometry has doubled their sunglass inventory. The glasses are available with and without prescription.

[heading centered=”yes” margin_bottom=”no”]What’s so great about Maui Jim Sunglasses?[/heading]

  • Waterproof and Oleophobic Coating – Waterproof to shed water and snow. Oleophobic to repel grease and make smudges and fingerprints easier to wipe away on both sides of the lens.

    MJ mavericks
    Mavericks
  • Anti-Reflective Treatment – Blocks reflected light and annoying glare from behind to provide a clear view and eliminate eye fatigue.
  • Clearshell Scratch Resistant Treatment – Lenses perform better and last longer with the added durability of this treatment on both sides of the lenses.
  • Color Enhancing Lens – Maui Jim’s optically correct, distortion-free lenses feature patented lens treatments or rare earth elements to infuse views with color.
  • Polarizing Film – Eliminates reflected glare from any flat, smooth or shiny surface for a cleaner, crisper view. Makes it possible to see below the surface of the water.
  • Unmatched Protection – Wipes out 99.9% of glare. Blocks 100% of UV rays.

Why Polarized?

Karen Griffith

Most of us wear sunglasses to reduce glare and brightness. Polarized sunglasses cut the glare and deliver sharp vision, 100% UV protection, and less eyestrain.

MJ Kipahulu

How do polarized lenses work?
When glare-causing light is reflected from surfaces, such as a flat road or smooth water, it is horizontally polarized (as opposed to light that is scattered in all directions). This experience creates a visually taxing and sometimes dangerous intensity of light called glare.
Polarized lenses are equipped with a special filter that blocks this type of intense reflected light to reduce glare effectively.

At Westside Optometry we offer prescription polarized sunglasses in your choice of frame, and whatever lens type you need, progressives, bifocal or single vision. We also feature Maui Jim sunglasses which are available with or without prescription with several choices of lens color. All of them are polarized. The Kipahulu is pictured above.

10 Steps to Relieve Computer Eye Strain

Karen Griffith 2 Comments

CVS

Many occupations require the use of technology, often in the form of a computer, but also as a tablet or smartphone. Americans on average spend 6 to 9 hours a day in front of digital devices. Studies show that eye strain can cause physical fatigue, decreased productivity and increased work error.
Here are 10 easy steps you can take to reduce your computer eye strain and other symptoms of Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS):

Get a Comprehensive Eye Exam

Having a comprehensive eye exam is the most important thing you can do to prevent or treat computer vision problems.

Use Proper Lighting

Eye strain is often caused by excessively bright light either from outdoor sunlight coming in through a window or from harsh interior lighting. When you use your computer, your ambient lighting should be about half as bright as that typically found in most offices. Eliminate exterior light by closing drapes, shades or blinds. If possible, position your computer monitor or screen so windows are to the side, instead of in front or behind it.

Minimize Glare

Glare on walls and finished surfaces, as well as reflections on your computer screen also can cause computer eye strain. Again, reduce the effect of outside and overhead lighting. If you wear glasses, request anti-reflective coating to reduce glare from the surface of your eyeglass lenses.

Upgrade your Display

If you are using an older CRT monitor replace it with and LCD (liquid crystal display), like those on a laptop. LCD screens are easier on the eyes and usually have an anti-reflective surface. When selecting a new flat panel display, select a screen with the highest resolution possible. Resolution is related to the “dot pitch” of the display. Generally, displays with a lower dot pitch have sharper images. Choose a display with a dot pitch of .28mm or smaller.

Adjust your Computer Display Settings

Adjusting the display settings of your computer can help reduce eye strain and fatigue.

  • Brightness. Adjust the brightness of the display so it’s approximately the same as the brightness of your surrounding workstation.
  • Text Size and Contrast. Adjust the text size and contrast for comfort, especially when reading or composing long documents.
  • Color Temperature. This is a technical term used to describe the spectrum of visible light emitted by a color display. Blue light is short-wavelength visible light that is associated with more eye strain than longer wavelength hues, such as orange and red. Reducing the color temperature of your display lowers the amount of blue light emitted by a color display for better long-term comfort.  

Blink More Often 

Blinking is very important when working at a computer; blinking moistens your eyes to prevent dryness and irritation. When working at a computer, people blink less frequently and most of those blinks are incomplete. The tears coating the eye evaporate more rapidly when the eye is wide open staring at a computer monitor. Also the air in many office environments is dry which can increase how quickly the tears evaporate. To reduce the risk of dry eyes during computer use, try to blink regularly and completely.

Exercise your Eyes

Another cause of computer eye strain is focusing fatigue. To reduce your risk of tiring your eyes by constantly focusing on your screen, look away from your computer at least every 20 minutes and gaze at a distant object (at least 20 feet away) for 20 seconds. I call this the 20-20-20 Rule. Looking away relaxes the focusing muscle inside the eye to reduce fatigue.

Take Breaks

To reduce your risk of CVS and neck, back and should pain, take frequent breaks during your computer day. This doesn’t mean check your phone; get up and move around.

Modify your Workstation

If you need to look back and forth between a printed page and a monitor, or between multiple monitors, make sure your targets are all the same distance from your eyes. Place written pages adjacent to the monitor, and place monitors in a semi-circle around you. Light the printed material well, but don’t shine the light in your eyes or at the monitor.

Consider Computer Eyewear

For the greatest comfort at your computer, you might benefit from having a pair of glasses made for your specific computer situation.

 

 

 

Polorized vs Gradient Sunglasses

admin 2 Comments

What’s the difference between polarized sunglasses and gradient sunglasses?

Let’s describe each type of sunlens first:
Polarized lenses are typically solid and dark in color. An additional layer is added to the lens to block out glare from horizontal surfaces such as the hood of a car, the water, and the snow. We recommend adding an anti-reflection coating to the back surface to eliminate all reflections providing the most comfortable vision outdoors. The frame featured to the left is a Calvin Klein sunglass, it can be purchased with plano (no prescription) polarized lenses or with a prescription.

A gradient lens is darker on the top and lighter on the bottom. This design is ideal for reading outdoors, and/or leaving the sunglasses on for days that are not as bright. The density of the darkest part of the lens and the color can be varied to accommodate for each individual’s preference. The Gucci frame featured here can be made with a solid polarized lens also.

This year, a lens combining the attributes of the polarization and the gradient tint became available. The color of the lens and lens materials are limited, but we are very excited to expand your sunlens choices. Lani with gradient polorized lenses The Lani by Maui Jim is an example.

Westside Optometry will be featuring all the Maui Jim Sunglasses at our Fall Eyewear Event, Saturday September 15th.

more information

 

GLARE

admin 2 Comments

glarePeople suffer from 4 types of  glare: distracting, discomforting, disabling and blinding. Distracting glare is caused by reflections on eyeglass lenses. This can be eliminated with anti-reflective coating. At Westside Optometry, we recommend this type of non-glare coating on the back side of sunglasses also.
Discomforting glare is caused by everyday light conditions that cause squinting and eye fatigue. Tinted or photochromic lenses will reduce this type of glare.
Disabling glare occurs when excessive, intense light reaches the eyes. The effects of disabling glare can cause long-term eye damage. Good sunglasses with maximum ultraviolet protection eliminates disabling glare.
Blinding or reflective glare comes from light reflected off smooth, shiny surfaces such as water, sand, snow or wet roads. A polarized sunglass is the ideal solution for blinding glare.

Glare is a problem during the day and night. It bothers people working at a computer, driving on the freeway and fishing on a boat. Don’t squint and suffer any longer, let us eliminate the discomfort of glare with appropriate glasses.