To see or not to see

[santa claus]

That is the question.

Santa's belated Christmas gift to you all is a litle piece of advice and it's that you make a New Year's Resolution to g e t a n e y e t e s t .

Now we're all staring at screens for too long and too often and despite the reassurances, it affects your eyesight.

Please get a test; the optician will check eye health as well as vision efficiency and you gotta say it has to be well worth the 20 quid or so.

Book your test now. Please.

No, I'm not an optician. But I may just turn out to be your next best friend

[watercooled]

Proof? Even if it does somehow change your vision, how will an eye test help?

I wore glasses when I was younger as I was slightly long-sited, but found they just made my eyes lazy i.e. I was fine without them, but after wearing them I found it harder to focus on close stuff.

Vision is normal now but I still get tests anyway as a two family members have glaucoma and it's best to check. It's probably not a bad idea to get checked occasionally for stuff like that, but AFAIK not because of any sort of computer use?

[finlay666]

Anyone who works with computers on a daily basis... you can reclaim the cost from your employer (or get your employer to pay)

[Agent]

https://www.boots.com/en/GBP10-eye-test_1240962/

Ten quid from Boots. Had one about 6 months ago and can't believe how bad my eyes are now. Seriously considering laser surgery at some point in the future.

Very happy with the service and after-care form Boots to be honest

[Larkspeed]

I got my eyes tested a couple of years back and they gave me glasses.

Nearly 200 euro out of pocket for the glasses and I never wear them because they make my eyes hurt.

I can see fine without them.

[santa claus]

Proof? Even if it does somehow change your vision, how will an eye test help?

You're right, there is no 'proof' except that of personal experience and the similar experiences of colleagues of varying ages. Such 'proof' would always be denied by the big players in the computer industry anyway.

An eye test could show you have eyestrain, a build up of pressure in the eye(s), the onset of controllable disease etc. Can't do any harm to have one eh?

I don't mind if you do or don't have a test; I'm not the Hexus patriarch. But if one person gets a test and their eyesight is improved/saved, then I can take a bit of flak from you .

[watercooled]

As I said, having an eye exam isn't a bad idea considering the negligible cost and potential benefit if they detect onset of a preventable disease, and as I said I do get regular checks myself, I'm just sceptical about computer use being a cause. Opticians would surely jump on any possible relationship between lifestyle factors and eye problems, even with minimal evidence, it would make for good marketing!

I.e. I'm sceptical about any 'evidence' from very limited sample sizes, without control. That's often how unfounded rumours and scare stories start. I'm not having a go, and I'm not disagreeing with your recommendation.

That being said, my nan went for regular eye exams and Specsavers ignored 'slight pressure build up' in her eyes; she has glaucoma and is now blind in one eye and has very poor sight in the other.

[santa claus]

Fair enough.

I just tried to give the suggestion of having an eye test a little extra impetus. But I can see your point about unfounded rumours: "Santa Claus confirms that computers ruin your eyesight". It could go viral! .

Sorry about your nan.

[watercooled]

I'd say it's probably a good idea to alternate between different opticians, and if you don't understand something they tell you, ask them to explain it properly.

I know very little about it, but apparently the 'slight pressure increase' should never have been ignored, yet Specsavers did nothing about it after several (not certain how many) visits. Surely all opticians should know about such an important risk factor for a condition which can lead to blindness? As soon as she had her eyes checked at Asda, they sent her straight to St Paul's Eye Hospital who were infuriated by the way Specsaves had ignored it. She's now on eye drops to preserve the sight she has left in one eye.

Oh and that's what the air puff device is for. All opticians I know of have them and use them on nearly every visit, especially if you mention family history of glaucoma, so why ignore the results?

I realise my first reply was a bit aggressive, apologies.

[g8ina]

I use THREE different pairs of glasses.

One for driving, for better long distance vision, one for the PC, and one for reading and close soldering etc.

I'd also recommend a test at least every two years.

[Lee H]

I get mine checked on a regular basis as there is glaucoma on both sides of the family.

I used to be long sighted years ago, but the glasses I had through school seemed to rectify the issue.

[watercooled]

Glasses don't actually improve vision, they just make it easier to focus while wearing them. It's normal for childhood long-sightedness to rectify itself as the eyes change shape with growth. As I said, glasses can actually make your eyes lazy, so stuff looks blurred when you take them off even if your vision was OK beforehand, although AFAIK it's only temporary.

[kalniel]

Proof? Even if it does somehow change your vision, how will an eye test help?

I wore glasses when I was younger as I was slightly long-sited, but found they just made my eyes lazy i.e. I was fine without them, but after wearing them I found it harder to focus on close stuff.

Vision is normal now but I still get tests anyway as a two family members have glaucoma and it's best to check. It's probably not a bad idea to get checked occasionally for stuff like that, but AFAIK not because of any sort of computer use?

Hard to say for certain. Your eye shape shouldn't change after you're about 18 and thus you shouldn't develop short-sightedness later than that (long-sighted problems can occur still due to muscles). But I developed permanent short-sightedness in my 30s after a lot of computer work, having previously had perfect vision.

There's also a statistically valid correlation between rates of short-sightedness in a population and proportion of population that are office workers (or was it level of development of economy of a population?) No causation was tested mind.