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10 New Year’s Resolutions for Your Eye Health

Now that the in-laws have gone, the beer fridge is empty and the BBQ and pool have been well used it’s time to turn our attention on our New Years Resolutions to improve our health. Some of you will make resolutions to lose weight, exercise more, more time for family and more time for pleasure reading.
Because your vision is vital to most resolutions that people make, I have compiled a list of New Year’s Resolutions for Your Eyes and Vision:

1. Make sure that you have your eyes examined with 200 degree Optomap retinal scanner as recommended by your optometrist.

Vision changes can be gradual and you may not realise you are having a problem. Many conditions, such as glaucoma, start with no symptoms. Also, diseases such as retinal detachments, macula degeneration, ocular tumours, diabetes and high blood pressure are frequently first detected with a retinal scan.

2. If you have children, make sure you have their eyes examined.

The recommended age for the first eye exam is 6 months. Children who are in school should have their eyes examined every year (and school and paediatrician vision screenings do not count).

3. If you should be wearing glasses for driving and you’re not, just do it.

This is especially true at night, or in the rain, when vision is more difficult and bright lights make it harder to see.

4. If you smoke, quit.

It has been clearly established that smoking can increase the risk of development of conditions such as cataracts, macular degeneration and dry eye. Seek professional help to quit if needed.

5. Make sure your eyes have adequate UV protection.

Your regular glasses, sunglasses, and contacts can all have UV protection. Limiting UV exposure reduces the risk of skin cancer of the eyelids, cataracts, pterygium and other conditions.

6. Wear your contact lenses no longer than recommended.

If you are sleeping in your contacts and your eye doctor did not explicitly fit you in contacts for this purpose, stop.
If you abuse contact lenses, you put yourself at risk of eye infections that are not only painful but also have the potential to result in permanent vision loss. Stop playing Russian Roulette.

7. Never “top off” contact lens solutions.

Use only the solutions recommended for you.
Never save solution for the next day and add a little more to fill the case. Start each night with fresh solution. The majority of contact serious lens-related infections comes from not taking care of them as recommended. Contacts are medical devices that only work well if they are cleaned regularly and appropriately.

8. Change your contact lens case monthly.

Contact lens cases can contain micro-organisms that are very difficult to remove. The best remedy is to start fresh with a new case. Most solutions include a new case, ditch the old one and use the new.

9. When you work at the computer, read, or play handheld games, take visual breaks to limit eyestrain.

Remember the “20/20-20/20 Rule”: Look up from your work every 20 minutes to an object 20 feet or more away, for 20 seconds and take 20 blinks. This is can keep you more comfortable and efficient. If you spend a significant amount of time on the computer, glasses specifically designed for the computer can reduce or eliminate eyestrain as well improve comfort of the neck.

10. Ask your optometrist if nutritional supplements are a good idea for you and your eyes.

There have been scientific studies that have shown that certain supplements can be appropriate for certain eye conditions, such as macular degeneration, and dry eye. They might be right for you, but they should only be of high quality and use should be discussed with your optometrist.

After reading this list of New Years Resolutions, pass it onto a friend or family member you care about. If you need help with any of these, feel free to call us on 07 4957 3066 or stop by the practice.

Dr Ieuan H. Rees. (Optometrist)
Buck & Todd Optometrist
Located at 103 Alfred Street, Mackay, 4740.

After seeing the recent 3D movie, Star Wars The Force Awakens, my son felt dizzy and a little nauseous.

Why? Isn’t 3D the way we normally see the world? What do our eyes do differently while watching a 3D movie that they don’t do in the normal environment?

Answer: The movie screen is a fixed distance away, so our eyes don’t change focus even when objects in the 3D appear to move towards us because the distance to the screen remains a constant. In real conditions when an object approaches you, you focus and constantly adjust your focus and at the same time your eyes converge to the desired focal point to keep the object clear and single. However in the theatre your focal length remains fixed.

The apparent position of the Millennium Falcon in the 3D movie does not require you to focus or converge your eyes and your eyes remained fixed on the screen. If your accommodation was used the screen would become blurred due to the change in focus.

Unfortunately for 3D movies, focussing isn’t all that occurs to give you three dimensional view of the world. When we fix our gaze on an object in space, the eyes rotate inwards to make the lines of sight of the two eyes intersect at the location of the object (fixation). So when the Millennium Falcon flies towards your face, your eyes converge and when it sweeps into the distance they diverge. This instinctive response is known as “vergence.” The accommodation and vergence responses are well coordinated so that the point where the lines of sight of our eyes intersect is also the point where our eyes focus.

In a 3D illusion this coordination between the two muscle types is disrupted, because the extraocular muscles want to converge on where the object appears to be, while the ciliary muscles want to stay focused on the screen. This conflict is the main source of discomfort in 3D movies.
Some people experience double vision with 3D movies.  The circular polarisation optics of 3D movie glasses make sure the left eye receives a different view angle to the right eye. Our brain will then perceive a depth map of the scene. However, if the two views don’t quite fall on the right locations in each eye, instead of a single view with 3D depth we experience two separate images.

Hence the double vision.
If you are one the many people who suffer headaches, double vision, dizziness and nausea with 3D movies a review of your accommodative – convergence system with me can measure your fusional vergence reserves. If these are limited, eye exercises can be implemented to improve your eyes muscle tone and make 3D movies more pleasurable as well as help with concentration for reading. If children complain of vision problems with 3D movies it may be the tip of the iceberg.

Have fun at the movies this summer.

Dr Ieuan H. Rees. (Optometrist)
Buck & Todd Optometrist
Located at 103 Alfred Street, Mackay, 4740.