Blog - Page 5 of 7 - Oldfields Opticians

Posted on 12th September 201723rd December 2017 by Kori Morrison — Leave a comment

Do I Need Glasses?

During the winter, light levels in general can be low. Many people find it more of a struggle to see clearly especially during these months. Insufficient task lighting can mean everything is more difficult. You can improve things considerably by having an eye test and ensuring you have the right glasses.

Glasses will actually make a massive difference to a wearer’s life. Essentially they function by correcting what is termed: ‘errors of refraction’. What are these errors? Well, they are split into main groups

Myopia or short sight
Focus change or accommodation
Long sight (hypermetropia/hyperopia)
Presbyopia
Astigmatism

With the massive demands we place on our eyesight every day it is worth treating eyes with considerable respect and consider if they might need some additional help. Read on to discover why you may be asking ‘Do I need glasses?’ and if not, why you should.

Myopia

Can you see things clearly when they are close to you but when you look into the distance everything is blurred? Does that sound familiar? Then it is likely you are myopic and should have an eye test to determine the extent of your short sightedness. Some find that things only become distinctive when they are within 5-10 cms of the eye.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you will need to wear glasses all the time. You may choose to use them to watch a screen, in the cinema or television and driving of course. Some find that close work is easy enough without them. But the difference will be like someone having ‘cleaned the windows’!

What about Reading Glasses?

These are very useful for near vision. If you are a hobbyist, model maker, knitter, embroiderer, avid reader or just someone who loves jigsaw puzzles and crosswords you may well find a pair of near sight or ‘reading glasses’ will brighten up your world. It can certainly make threading a needle or finding that tricky piece so much simpler and quicker.

It’s a fact that after 40 – 45 years of age there is some degeneration in eyesight and many approaching middle age will require glasses. So why struggle without? Don’t be tempted to buy off the shelf ‘reading glasses’ as the quality can be questionable and potentially harmful to your eyes.

Accommodation

This is not about where you live! Answer these two questions:

Do your eyes struggle to focus when you have been looking at a computer keyboard for any length of time?
Do you struggle to focus when you have been reading and someone calls to you and you look up?

This is what accommodation means in this context. As we age it becomes slightly more difficult to change focus and glasses can make a tremendous difference to our every day lives; so why continue to struggle when there is a simple and practical solution?

Long sight

Means people have no difficulty seeing a number plate at a distance of say 6 metres. Yet ask them to read a menu and it is a different story. You may find you will not need glasses all the time only when reading or doing close work.

Presbyopia

If you don’t want to know this then look away now! Presbyopia is about the degeneration of the eye. Call it ageing if you like. You will notice it is difficult to read at arm’s length and this is when varifocals and bifocals can come into their own. At this point it is a great idea to make eye checks more regularly as they can be such an indicator of overall health. We may not be aware just how much our eyes are deteriorating but a professional can help.

Astigmatism

These are interesting because they vary tremendously between individuals. You may find your cornea is slightly different in shape from what is considered a normal curve. Think of it like this. Your cornea might be shaped like a rugby ball as compared to the usual soccer ball shape. If you were paying attention in Physics class you will know this change in shape can mean your eyes vary in their power and sometimes things can appear quite blurred. This is easily corrected by the right pair of glasses.

The problems associated with all of these conditions can be easily solved; and with the huge range of lenses, light frames and fashionable glasses you can have a new image and see your world clearly.

Consult your optician if you have any questions at all about any of these conditions. We are always here to help.

Posted on 5th September 201723rd December 2017 by Kori Morrison — Leave a comment

Digital Eye Strain In Young Adults

Digital eye strain is visual discomfort experienced as symptoms of dry eyes, irritation, fatigue which can also lead to blurred vision, watery eyes and headaches. On average the population spend more than 6 hours a day behind a visual screen from tablets, laptops and television at close range.

Many begin to discover the difficulties when shifting vision, leading to insomnia, as blue light is known to disrupt the normal REM sleeping pattern. Worst cases leading to myopia or near-sightedness, which at a later stage in life can become degenerative with higher risks of cataracts.

Children are particularly susceptible to undetected vision problems, as they are unaware of the festering issues. Limited self-awareness due to prolonged hours concentrating behind the screen with limited to no breaks can in some cases lead to spasms as a result of the eyes locking onto one particular distance for an extensive period of time.

As recent research has indicated people who spend more hours outside are less likely to develop myopia or nearsightedness. Around 10 million eye doctor visits per year are a result of symptoms related to computer usage. Particularly with hand held devices requiring the user to hold the screen closer to the eyes, meaning more focus is required when reading smaller words.

On average we blink 18 times a minute while during heavy focus on bright light, this is dramatically reduced, causing symptoms of burning and dryness of the eyes. Encourage your children to apply the 20-20 rule by ensuring you look 20ft away every 20 minutes from the screen. Having an updated eye test is also essential not only to identify their visual needs but also underlining health issues.

With many of us going through e-mails and social media on a daily accounts using various gadgets, the emitted blue UV-light from these devices contains the highest energy wavelength, exposure to man made light at close proximity is a major concern for eye doctors.

Preventing eye strain

Follow the 20-20 rule
Limit the time spent behind a visual screen
Ask about BBGR blue UV lenses coating
Supervise screen brightness
Schedule your next eye exam
Blinking frequently moisturizes the eyes

BBGR Neva Max Blue UV lens

Adjusting the lighting of your screen is essential, high intensity light can cause excessive glare. Combating these artificial UV-rays, we reccomend the BBGR Neva Max lens coatings which has the beneficial effect of reducing the level of blue light transmitted through the front surface of a spectacle lens to the eyes.

Improving overall contrasts and visual comfort, reducing fogging, acts as a dust repellent, scratch resistant from any mishaps; as well as being grease and smudge repellent. At Eye Emporium we know glasses are an investment and offering ultimate transparency and lasting quality for daily protection is our main goal.

Adjustments in the positioning of the computer monitor and keyboard should be in accordance to body parameters, where at least 40 to 76 cm should be placed between the eyes and the computer screen. For a child a foot stool may be needed to position them at the correct level to allow the child’s focus to be unobstructed.

At Eye Emporium we provide in-depth assessment of your needs in relation to your personal lifestyle. Contact lens wearers should also consider having a spare pair of glasses to use in front of the computer, as dry eyes can create discomfort after long periods behind a screen.

Posted on 29th August 201723rd December 2017 by Kori Morrison — Leave a comment

Colour Blindness: Symptoms, Causes and Diagnosis

What is colour blindness?

Colour blindness is a condition that affects a significant percentage of the population. It is the inability to perceive colour differences under normal conditions and the decreased ability to see colour. It is not actual blindness and many people who are colour blind are still able to see objects clearly, but there is a deficiency of colour vision.

Colour blindness can change a life

Colour blindness can change a life and it makes reading and learning harder for children and young adults and it makes pursuing certain careers impossible. Examples of careers that exclude colour blind people include electricians and various driving jobs because of traffic lights. However, both children and adults can learn to compensate for their problems seeing colour.

It’s rare that a person sees no colour at all and it’s usually that they have problems seeing red, green and blue colours or a mix of these.

Symptoms of colour blindness

Typical symptoms of colour blindness vary and one person may be able to see some colours and not others. For example, you may be unable to differentiate between red and green colours but able to see yellow and blue.

Another symptom is the ability to see many colours, but not knowing that you see colours differently from the majority of people. Also, you may have the ability to see certain shades of colour while other people see thousands of them.

Causes of colour blindness

Colour blindness is caused in several ways, the most common cause is genetic.

There are three types of cone cells in the eye and each type senses either green, red or blue light. Colour is seen when cone cells sense different quantities of these three basic colours. And so a genetic deficiency in one of these types of cone cells leads to colour blindness.

However, colour blindness is not always inherited. It can also be caused as a result of injury to the eye, medical side effects and eye conditions such as cataracts and macular degeneration.

Diagnosis of colour blindness

A simple test will measure how well you are able to distinguish various colours. The most common test will involve looking at sets of colours and trying to identify a pattern in them such as a number or letter. This will identify the general type of colour blindness you have.

More complex tests such as arranging coloured chips according to how similar the colours are, or in a colour order can help to determine the extent of this.

Get tested for colour blindness

It is important to detect a colour vision problem early because it can make a big difference. Unfortunately, there is generally no treatment for colour blindness however opticians can provide coloured spectacle lenses which can sometimes help to discriminate between colours rather than clearly see them.

Posted on 22nd August 201722nd December 2017 by Kori Morrison — Leave a comment

Can Cheap Glasses Affect Health?

Buying cheap “off the peg” ready-made reading glasses may damage your eyesight according to research carried out by ‘Which’ consumer magazine which reveals that the majority of self-prescribed glasses affect health.

Independent research

In their research, ‘Which’ checked 18 pairs of glasses from high street stores and they found problems with almost half of them. The lead researcher found that those carrying a higher prescription – +3.50 to +4.00 – were considered to be of the greatest concern. They also found that the off-the-peg glasses cause headaches, eye strains, blurred vision and double vision – all the problems that spectacles are meant to solve.

Warning

‘Which’ has also warned that these cheap glasses are not suitable for people with higher prescriptions because they are not suitable for walking and other mobile activities because they ‘could cause a nasty accident’. The big problem here is that the centre point of the lenses may not be aligned and the lenses are made to the same power as each other, whereas each of your eyes typically requires a different power.

Therefore one eye might be clear while the other is blurred. ‘Which’ found this in a pair from Poundland which had a prescription strength that differed from the +3.5 on the packet.

Unfortunately, millions have turned to cheap glasses because of the perceived high cost of glasses from opticians.

Eye strain

Buying cheap “off the peg” glasses may save you money in the short term, however, that can come at a great expense later. These so-called ready readers sell for as little as £1 in high street shops and some of the common problems they are associated with include headaches and eye strain.

Too basic

Also, cheap reading glasses are mass produced and are designed only to magnify images in front of you, like a book. They correct only for the most basic of prescriptions and do not correct for astigmatism or correctly align the centre of the lenses to the centre of your pupils.

Glasses manufactured by an Opticians will be made specifically for you, will have your full optical prescription, correct alignment and will be made using optical grade materials.

Advice from opticians is that you should have an eye examination before buying any spectacles (“Off the peg” or otherwise) as the eye test can detect any problems with your eyes like cataracts or brain tumours as well as determine your full prescription.

Posted on 5th May 201722nd December 2017 by Oldfields Opticians — Leave a comment

Macula Degeneration

Macula degeneration (AMD) is a condition that affects the central part of the vision. The part we use to look at things directly. It can occur gradually (dry type) or suddenly (wet type).

Key facts:

Mainly affects people over 60, but can occur sooner.
Most common cause of sight loss in the developed world
600,000 people affected in the UK
Half of these are registered as sight impaired

Risk factors:

Age – Over 60s at greater risk
Smoking – Can occur at an earlier age due to smoking
Genetics – family history increases the risk
Diet – poor diet can cause deficiencies in the vitamins, mineral and antioxidants needed to main a healthy macula
Blood pressure – high blood pressure increase the risk
Sunlight – light from the blue end of the visual spectrum can increase oxidative damage, leading to macula degeneration.
Gender – women have a greater risk of developing the condition

Risk factor often occur in combination and it is not possible to pin the condition down to one reason or another.

What can i do:

Having regular eye checks will help pick up the condition sooner, and may even be before you experience any symptoms.
Look at your lifestyle, take regular exercise, quit smoking, have a diet rich in green leafy vegetables.
Assessing your lifestyle with your Optometrist can identify areas that may place you at higher risk.
Taking macula antioxidants if you have risk factors may help to maintain macula health.
Using good quality sunglasses will help protect your eyes form harmful UV light.

Treatment:

Wet macula degeneration can be treated with a drug that limits the growth of new and leaky blood vessels.

Dry macula degeneration does not have any know treatment however antioxidants are thought to play a part in maintaning macula health and may delay the onset or progression of the condition.

If you will need to be referred, we are able to refer you for wet macula degeneneration by direct fast referral to the following treatment centres.

Central Middlesex Hospital;

Charing Cross NHS Trust;

Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust;

Ealing Hospital NHS Trust;

Hillingdon Hospitals’ NHS Foundation Trust;

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust;

Moorfields’ Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

A copy of the referral is sent to your GP. You are then contacted by phone within 2 weeks with an appointment.

For those with dry macula degeneration we can provide macula supplements. Our Optometrists recommend Macushield for maintaining macula health as it contains all three macula pigments found at the macula.

Meso-Zeaxanthin is only found in one place in the body, the centre of the macula, in the back of the eye. The Meso-Zeaxanthin in MacuShield is extracted from marigolds. These marigolds are grown specifically for the production of of this ingredient. Other sources of Zeaxanthin are certain types of sea food in limited quantities.