Your Prescription Explained
Myopia, Hyperopia, Astigmatism…
What does it all mean?
To break it down to basics, we all have 3 major components in our prescription:
Nearsightedness/ Farsightedness (Myopia/Hyperopia)
Double vision (Astigmatism)
Near-to-far/ Far-to-near focus (Presbyopia)
Myopia
Myopia, or nearsightedness, is when things close to you are clear, but things further from you are blurred. If you have Myopia, you may prefer dimmer lights and may be sensitive to light in general. A visual check is crucial to making sure that you meet your driving requirements. If you are highly myopic, you may even find the computer blurry and spectacles will be necessary to keep a good posture during PC work.
Hyperopia
People with hyperopia, or farsightedness, may find both distance and near vision clear, but will likely suffer with headaches and eyestrain. In order to look at things close to us, our eye muscles have to work to pull our focus in from distance to near. For farsighted people, their resting eye state is much further than normal and their muscles have to work harder to pull their focus to look at near objects. If you have hyperopia, you may prefer brighter lights and may find night/overcast driving difficult. Having hyperopia is especially difficult for computer workers, as the constant strain to focus on near work causes fatigue.
Astigmatism
Astigmatism occurs when the cornea/lens of the eye is not completely spherical and more cylindrical. This causes images to look “double” or “shadowy” and can make focusing difficult for distance or near vision. If you have astigmatism, you are highly likely to suffer with headaches and light sensitivity. Driving at night or overcast situations are usually difficult, and any digital screen can be uncomfortable to look at. Apart from spectacle correction, these patients benefit highly from antireflective coatings due to their light sensitivity.
Presbyopia
Presbyopia occurs from the age of 40 and affects your reading ability. The lens in your eye begins to harden, making it difficult for your eye muscles to pull it in shape for focusing on nearer objects. You may find that it takes a long time to focus on near objects, or you may find that you have to hold things further away to see better. This is a natural aging process of the eye that progresses with age. If you have presbyopia, you will need a reading aid to see things up close. Spectacle options would be a separate reading pair, bifocals, or multifocals. For computer users, multifocals are the best option as they have an intermediate reading aid for the PC.
