Your eyes are an extremely important part of your body, but people may not be very aware of how they work. Unfortunately, there are many myths out there that we have heard, and we may believe them because we don’t know any better. Here’s an example: People that wear glasses become reliant on them. This is completely false.

All eyeglasses do is correct blurry vision. People may find after wearing glasses for a while that they prefer wearing them than not wearing them, but this doesn’t mean their eyes have grown reliant on eyeglasses. People who need eyeglasses to see clearly simply get comfortable with wearing their glasses and enjoying clearer vision – there is no such thing as developing a physical reliance on glasses.

All eyeglasses do is correct your vision, they don’t damage or “cure” it. People may say that wearing contact lenses can cure nearsightedness. There is no proof that this is true.
Another myth is that wearing the wrong glasses causes damage to your eyes. This is also false. If you have blurry vision but you lose your glasses, you shouldn’t worry about your eyes becoming damaged.

Not wearing your glasses simply will mean you’ll have blurry vision. If you wear an older prescription, your vision might not be as good, but your eyes are never damaged from these kinds of factors. Remember: Just because your vision is blurry or you have the wrong glasses doesn’t mean you’re harming your eyes. Instead, just get the right eyeglasses so you can enjoy clearer vision. That’s all.

We’ve also been told other myths that have been widely accepted by people, like eyes get damaged from reading in dim light or staring at computer screens. This is all untrue. Before the advent of electricity, people read by candlelight all the time, and their eyes weren’t adversely affected. Using your eyes in dim light doesn’t damage them, at all. It just strains them more, which is an important difference. When our eyes become strained, we’re more likely to feel tired, but this doesn’t mean we’re causing damage to our eyes.

The same idea goes with computer screens and televisions. Just like when your reading or sewing, your eyes are going to blink less often because you are focused on doing something. This means that less moisture is getting to your eyes. They can then feel tired, strained or out of focus, but you are not damaging them.

To prevent strain on your eyes, though, you can try a couple of things, like keeping your computer or television screen about two feet away from your face and making sure it’s at a slightly downward angle. If you’re eyes feel strained or out of focus, try taking your vision off of the screen and looking around the room, focusing on objects farther away. This will help you re-focus your eyes and relax them.

Another false fact out there is that people with weak eyes have to worry about wearing their eyes out. People hear this claim and they try to avoid fine print out of fear that they’ll “use up” their eyes. This is totally false. The eye isn’t a muscle; it’s more like a camera. You can use your eyes all you want, you won’t wear them out.

Other myths exist that claim people with crossed or misaligned eyes will just outgrow them. Unfortunately, this is a false claim, as well. People don’t outgrow these eye problems. Instead, it’s important for children with crossed or misaligned eyes to be treated by a doctor. The earlier they get treated, the better.

There are many ways to treat these types of eye conditions. For instance, if someone has a lazy eye, they might be advised to put a patch on their good eye, forcing the lazy eye to correct itself. There are many other types of treatment, like using eyeglasses, applying eye drops, undergoing corrective surgery or using a combination of these things.

Furthermore, despite what some may have told you, learning disabilities are not caused by eye problems. Being able to see and read clearly is separate from having a learning disability. Kids that have impairments in their learning functions will need special teaching, but it’s also important that they have clear vision. Because of this, every child should have a complete medical eye examination.

You may have also heard that “all eye doctors are the same.” This is also very untrue. There are two kinds of eye care providers: Ophthalmologists and optometrists. Ophthalmologists must have at least eight years of medical school and do extensive training in hospitals. They’re qualified for all kinds of eye care, like corrective surgeries. On the other hand, optometrists and opticians are trained to provide eye care services, but they aren’t licensed to do corrective surgeries.

It’s very important to be aware of the many debunked myths out there concerning eye health. No, carrots don’t “cure” your eyes. Vitamin A will help them, though, and you can find it in many different foods. You can sit as close to the television as you wish and you can read in the dark all you want. So be skeptic of the pseudo-facts people may tell you about eye health. If you ever have questions about maintaining your eye health or dealing with a vision problem, don’t hesitate to visit an eye care professional, who will give you all the reliable information you need.

Whether you need to wear corrective lenses or contacts, regular care is necessary to promote longevity. Both contacts and glasses can be damaged or broken. In the case of contacts, this may not be a terrible ordeal, as these are worn temporarily in most instances. However, if you wear glasses, damaged or broken specs mean a trip to the eye doctors’ for a new pair.

To prevent something like that, you can take the proper precautions and take proper care of your contacts and glasses. If you wear contacts, care differs depending on the kind that you have. There are soft contact lenses and rigid gas permeable contact lenses (which have a tougher exterior). Then there are contacts that you throw out and those that you can keep for a longer amount of time, at least for a week but sometimes for up to a month.

If you have disposable contacts, you should never wear them beyond the extended amount of time as recommended on the box. If you have extended-wear contacts, you need to make sure that you also take them out nightly. If you wear them again, you need to clean them. You can typically find contact solution at the grocery store or at your eye doctors’ office. Don’t attempt to use water of any temperature to clean your contacts, as these could lead to the spread of bacteria. Only proper contact solution will clean your contacts properly.

If you forget to clean your extended wear contacts, you may want to skip wearing them again. They can easily attract bacteria which could infect your eyes. If you have any eye condition or an illness of any type (even one that doesn’t affect the eyes), you should switch to disposable contacts and throw these out after daily use. When your body is fighting off infection, bacteria is more likely to spread from your contacts.

However, perhaps you prefer wearing glasses instead. In that case, you need to worry not only about the lenses of the glasses potentially becoming damaged or broken but the frames holding up as well. If you’re an active person, you should not wear your glasses when playing sports. Instead, you may want to talk to your eye doctor about prescription sports goggles that are meant for activity. Whenever you’re not wearing your glasses, you should take them off properly, using both of your hands. This prevents you from tugging at one of the arms and loosening it or accidentally snapping it off.

You also need to place your glasses in a safe area when you’re not wearing them. Your glasses probably came in a hard-shelled case that you picked out at the eye doctors’ office. You should always place your glasses in that protective case when you’re not wearing them. You may want to put the case somewhere out of reach of kids or other people.

In order to keep the frames intact, look out for any loose parts. There are screws that hold together the frames which may unwind over time and need to be screwed back in. If you’ve noticed that the arms of your glasses are looser than usual, this should take care of the problem. If screwing the arms back in place didn’t help, you may want to take your glasses to your eye doctors’ office.

You also need to worry about the lenses of the glasses, which can experience damage in the form of scratching. Always placing your glasses in your hard-shelled case prevents them from coming into contact with other elements when you’re not wearing them. Put them with the arms against the back of the case rather than the lenses against the back of the case. If you need to take off your glasses for a moment and put them somewhere, never put the lenses first.

If you have a smudge or particles on your glasses that you need to wipe off, don’t just use your shirt, pants, or other fabric around you. Instead, use the cleaning cloth that your eye doctor likely gave you with your pair of glasses. This soft cloth will rub away any smudges without damaging the lenses.

By following these guidelines for contacts and glasses care, you will not have to worry about breakage, damage, and potential bacterial infection. As long as you don’t forget any of the above steps, you should be able to wear your contacts without incident, and enjoy your glasses for years ahead.

In today’s technological world where people use screens often, eye strain has become more frequent. However, that’s not the only reason a person’s eyes may feel tired and unable to function like usual. If you go on a long road trip and you’re behind the wheel the whole time, if you work as a truck driver, or if you read for hours on end, you can also experience eye strain.

Most times, eye strain is not a serious medical condition. It doesn’t require intervention by a doctor and typically abates as long as you cease the strain-causing activity for a while. However, that doesn’t mean that eye strain doesn’t sometimes require medical attention if your symptoms get worse or do not disappear after some time.

First though, it helps to understand all sources of eye strain. Not only can staring too long on the road, reading for too long, or using computers or smartphones for too long cause eye strain, but so can other situations. For example, if you read or stare at something for too long in a room with poor lighting, your eyes will have a harder time functioning well. If the room is too bright though, you could also experience discomfort. Glare generated from screens or windows can also cause eye strain.

If you use a computer frequently for work, school, or recreation, this particular type of eye strain has its own particular name called computer vision syndrome. This syndrome isn’t very serious, like most types of eye strain, but it too can cause serious vision problems in some instances.

If your eyes begin straining, you’ll notice a few general symptoms. Your eyes will feel dry and may begin to hurt or itch. Your vision may begin to grow blurry and your eyes may also water. Your back, neck, and shoulders may begin to hurt, and you may notice that you have a headache as well. Other bright lights may make these symptoms worse. The symptoms for computer vision syndrome are generally the same.

However, in some serious instances, you may experience other symptoms. In these cases, it’s best to receive medical attention as soon as possible if these symptoms do not abate in a reasonable amount of time. You may have a strong headache or migraine, itchy or painful eyes, and double vision and other vision issues.

Some factors can make your eye strain worse, such as excessive air conditioning or heater use. If you’re already tired or have already had a long day, it shouldn’t take long for you to experience eye strain. If you already have eye issues such as refractive errors, this also increases your likelihood of developing eye strain.

If you do decide to visit with your doctor, he or she will test you for eye strain through a typical eye examination. You should discuss any factors that may cause your eyes to become uncomfortable, such as long amounts of time at a computer or on the road, long amounts of time spent reading, or possible preexisting eye conditions. Ultimately, if you have another eye condition, your doctor can treat it at this time. He or she may also recommend that you wear prescription lenses to reduce the chance of you developing further eye strain.

Mostly though, you can make most of the changes to prevent eye strain yourself. Take frequent breaks from reading or computer use. If you drive a lot, make rest stops when possible to give your eyes a chance to refocus and rest. Always make sure that you’re in a well-lit room and try to keep the temperatures even if you can. By moving your computer monitor at home and work between 20 and 40 inches from where you sit according to Mayo Clinic, you can reduce the effort your eyes have to make when looking at the screen. You should also try to prevent glare in the room if possible.

You can also buy artificial tears without a prescription if eye strain typically gives you dry eyes. These artificial tears keep your eyes lubricated so that your eyes don’t feel as irritated at the end of the day. You can try massaging your eyelid muscles, Mayo Clinic recommends. Rub your temple, your eyelids, your eyebrow muscles, and your cheek below your eyes using your fingertips for 10 seconds per spot. Try to do this at least once every day.

While eye strain isn’t a long-term threat to your vision, it’s still annoying and can detract from productivity and comfort. By taking the above steps to be proactive about your environment, you can reduce your chances of experiencing eye strain.