Wendy Keyzer suffers from eye strain. As a communications manager for a large company, Keyzer spends a lot of time on the computer, averaging about 8 hours a day. When she goes home, she pays for it.

She says she frequently goes home with headaches, alomost on a daily basis, so she really had to struggle to find something to relieve the process.

Wendy's glasses have been checked and her computer, chair and keyboard are ergonomically aligned. Her headaches may stem from overfocussing.  

Dr. Simon Holland, Opthalmologist, says, "if you think of the eye rather like a zoom lens, how it works. If it's kept in a constant state of near vision, then it's almost as though it doesn't relax well enough, you can get spasming in the muscle that can also be the cause of headaches."

Another common presentation for eye strain is dry eye.

Dr. Holland comments, "generally when we're concentrating on a task, we don't blink as often and all those air conditioned buildings."

Now, one if the leading of corrective lens is offering anti-fatigue glasses to help reduce eye-strain. It works by simply adding point six of a correction to the bottom half of the lens.

Brian McBride, Manager of Stock Club (A subsidiary of Essilor) says, "as we focus on near work, our eye has to work less, so the fatigue and strain associated with concentrated work is minimized."

Theirry Robinm President of Essilor Canada, says, "we had a lot of requests from eye care professionals and they wanted to come up with somethng to really help people spend time on the computer to spend time reading."

But are anti-fatigue lenses really the solution for people between 20 and 45, who don't have a vision problem?

Dr. Simon Holland says, "it would probably not mean you meed stronger prescriptions later on, it's more that you get into those prescriptions earlier."

Wendy's tried changing her office lighting. She now works in a dimly lit environment and tries to remember to look away from her computer screen. The headaches have diminished but they're still there at the end of the day.

Wendy doesn't like taking medicine like that on a daily basis, but she says, "it's what you have to do sometimes."

If you spend a lot of time on the computer, make sure you're using a good font size and adjust the screen and lighting to reduce the glare. Eye drops can help alleviate dry eye, but doctors say choose tear substitutes not eye whiteners because they can have a rebound effect. And do get your eyes checked by an eye care professional to see if you have the right perscription and that there is no other underlying problem.

Tuesday April 11, 2006