Eyecare

Vision care, tips and important facts.

Our eyesight and ability to see is one of our most important senses, more than 75% of the information comes through our sense of sight. By protecting our eyes, we can reduce the odds of blindness, vision loss and staying on top of any eye diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma and many others. By keeping our eyes healthy, we keep our brain healthy and improving our quality of life!

For many centuries, people have promoted eye exercises as a natural cure for eyesight. There's very little credible scientific evidence suggesting that eye exercises can improve our vision. We can't correct our vision without professionals, and there's no quick and easy fix for eyesight problems. Refractive errors will progress regardless of whether we wear glasses or not, but wearing glasses means we can see better. 
After 40 our eyes usually don't have enough focusing power to see clearly, reading or other close vision tasks. Losing the focusing ability for near vision called presbyopia and occurs because the lenses inside our eyes become less flexible.
Visual acuity of 20/20 is considered “perfect vision” because no aids are required.
Eyecare does not finish with the correction of refractive errors. Maintaining the health of our eyesight is a permanent investment.

Need to know

There are many symptoms can signal we need glasses, for example - eye fatigue and/or strain, frequent headaches, blurred vision, seeing halos around light, reading or writing with a screen near the face or at arm's length, difficulty seeing at night.

A nearsighted person can see near objects clearly, but objects in the distance are blurred (myopia). Farsightedness is the opposite, a person can see faraway objects clearly, but objects that are near are blurred (presbyopia). 
Persons who have myopia with astigmatism often experience even worse blurring due to the refractive error caused by mismatched curvatures of the cornea or lens. 
Depending on the amount of myopia, a person may only need to wear prescription glasses for certain activities, like watching a movie or driving a car. 

The best glasses shape for a strong prescription is a smaller round and oval frame, but there is another option for your prescription glasses - high refractive index lenses. They are thin and offer the same correction for your prescription glasses without the added thickness. Thin lenses are always the most fashionable for a strong prescription. 
As a rule, in those who have a high prescription, glasses are thicker because more material is needed to correct for the refractive error. High-index lenses are more efficient in bending light and correcting for refractive errors, and so the result is a thinner, lighter lens. OhSpecs offers high-index lenses without extra payments, the standard high-index lenses are already included in the price.

Digital eye strain is a group of vision-related problems that result from prolonged computer, tablet, and smartphone use. Mostly all individuals experience discomfort and vision problems when viewing digital screens for extended periods.
Digital eye strain symptoms include:
Sore, tired, burning or itching eyes;
Dry eyes;
Blurred vision;
Headache;
Increased sensitivity to light;
Feeling that you cannot keep your eyes open.
If you think you have the syndrome, get a comprehensive eye exam from an optometrist or ophthalmologist. The doctors may recommend special glasses with blue light blocking lenses that reduce eye strain. 

Dry eye syndrome, also known as keratoconjunctivitis sicca, is the condition of having dry eyes and usually caused by a lack of tears. Our tears are a complex mix of water, fatty oils, and mucus. The mix helps make the surface of our eyes smooth and clear, as well it helps protect the eyes from infection. 
Dry eye syndrome permanently harms our vision. When left untreated, dry eye can cause light sensitivity and blurred vision.

Blue light is a spectrum of light and it is everywhere! We experience it from our exposure to the sun and also by the screen on digital devices. Our eyes keep being exposed to blue light from our computers, smartphones, all the screens. It is a known fact that constant exposure to blue light can result in very serious eye health issues.

UV protection is blocking the ultraviolet light from reaching the eyes. For example like sunscreen protects your skin from UV damage, UV lenses block most the ultraviolet rays reaching your eyes. The sunglasses has to offer UV-A and UV-B protection and block at least 99 percent of ultraviolet radiation. Often very expensive sunglasses may offer more stylish shape, but it is very easy to find inexpensive glasses that offer 100% UV protection as well.
UV protection protects our eyes from harmful rays of the sun while polarized sunglasses and lenses eliminate glare. Having ultraviolet protection is crucial while polarization is more of a preference. 
Contact lens wearers always must wear sunglasses when outdoors.

How to

A prescription is an order written by an optometrist or ophthalmologist that specifies the value of all parameters:

OD - Oculus Dexter refers to the right eye.
OS - Oculus Sinister refers to the left eye.
SPH - Sphere corrects nearsighted or farsighted vision.
CYL - Cylinder combined with Axis corrects astigmatism.
AXIS - The direction of the astigmatism, measured in degrees.
PD - Pupillary Distance is the measurement of the distance between the pupils.

Temples and nose-pads of the glasses are designed for easy adjustment, usually, you will not need to adjust eyeglasses, but if you want, you can take your glasses to an optical store for a fitting. Most opticians will adjust your glasses for free.
In-home, to make prescription glasses looser or more tight, bow the earpieces outwards or inwards. If it is a wire frame, bend the pieces with small pliers, and if your frames are plastic, heat them with warm water or a hairdryer, then bend them by hand.

It is easy, the best way to clean the glasses is to put them under warm water and put a tiny drop of dishwashing detergent on the tip of the fingers to create a lather on the lens. Then rinse with warm water, and dry with a clean, soft cotton cloth. 
Washing your prescription glasses every day will keep the lenses in their optimal condition. The cleaner your glasses, the less your eyes have to strain.

Glossary

Acetate is a modern plastic made from plant-based cellulose and all-natural cotton flakes.
Eco-sustainable, skin-friendly and hypoallergenic.

Bridge joins the eye wires to distribute weight across the nose.

Coating is applied to the surface of the lens to insrease functional protection, anti-reflective coating eliminates reflections and block glare.

End piece joins the glass front to the temples.

Hinge is the open and close part of the frame and connects the front part to the temples.

Monel is a nickel and copper alloy. It is lightweight and highly resistant to corrosion.
Memory metal is a metal alloy used for glasses that are usually made from titanium and nickel.
Nickel silver is an alloy of nickel and zinc. It is more rigid than other mixed metals.
Titanium is a premium metal that is lightweight, hypo-allergenic, and highly resistant to corrosion, very strong and super light.
Stainless steel is a good alternative to titanium. It offers a lightweight feel and hypoallergenic.

Progressive lenses offer 2-3 vision powers in one lens, they are a great option for adults with a need for near, mid and distance correction. 

Single correction throughout the lens, for distance or reading.