The inability to see things clearly when they are at a distance is called myopia, more commonly known as near sightedness. People who are nearsighted have trouble with tasks like reading highway signs or the blackboard. Myopia is hereditary, and usually appears early in childhood. It is most often treated with corrective lenses, either spectacles or contact lenses. In a prescription for corrective lenses, a lens meant to correct nearsightedness will have a negative number, and the higher the number the stronger the correction provided.

Approximately 30% of the population is nearsighted. If you find that objects that are near to you appear clear, but objects that are at a distance seem blurred, you may be nearsighted. If you have frequent headaches and eyestrain even when wearing your glasses, you should have your vision re-evaluated to be sure that your prescription is still adequate for your needs.

Recent years have seen some interesting and hopeful advances in the treatment of myopia. Refractive surgery using lasers has become increasingly common. Some of the more common of those procedures include Lasik surgery and PRK surgery. In both of these treatments a special laser scalpel is used to reshape the cornea in order to focus light properly on the retina.

Another area that’s being explored with considerable success is reshaping the cornea using contact lenses. Known as orthokeratology, the process involves wearing specially made contact lenses that gradually reshape your cornea so that when you remove them, your cornea temporarily retains the new shape, giving you clear vision without the contact lenses in place. In a similar treatment, called corneal refractive therapy which was approved in 2002, corneal shaping lenses are worn at night and offer clear vision without contact lenses during the day.

Common causes of eye twitching

Most of us have experienced it; after a long day of working at the computer or hitting the books, one eye or the other starts to twitch.  What causes annoying eye twitching, and what can you do about it?

The vast majority of twitches are caused by a minor spasm in the muscles of the eyelid.  Like most spasms, they are caused by muscle fatigue.  Fatigue in the muscles around the eyelid can be caused by high levels of stress, sleepiness, bright lights, squinting for long periods of time, and eye strain from reading in dim light or looking at a computer screen for long periods of time.

In rare cases, twitches in the eye can be caused by physical, psychological, or neurological problems, such as epilepsy or Tourette’s syndrome.

Treatment for eye twitching
In order to relax these eye muscles and ease the twitching, you can apply a warm or a cool compress to the affected eyes, take a long, soothing bath to ease stress, or use eye drops.  A long nap or a good night’s sleep will often help stop twitching as well.

To avoid eye twitches to begin with, take frequent breaks while reading or working at the computer.  Use these breaks to look off into the distance to change the focus of your eyes.  Ensure that you always have plenty of good light in your work area.

If you suspect that your eye twitches are a result of stress, try taking a brisk walk in your lunch hour, or exercise in place for a few minutes during your reading breaks.  Soothing music, stretches in your chair, and aromatherapy are other ways to combat stress while working or studying.

Severe cases can be treated by medication, Botox injections, or even surgery.

Important
If your eye twitches are violent or do not subside in a reasonable period of time, you should discuss this with your doctor.

If you’ve been wearing contact lenses for ages and hitting middle age then you might notice that things seem fuzzier than they used to at a distance. That’s because as the body ages our far sightedness starts to go. Now not only can’t you see things up close, but items at a distance seem blurry too.

The traditional treatment for this condition, called presbyopia, is a pair of bifocals. Bifocals have a different level of magnification in different areas of the lenses allowing a person to focus at all distances. Luckily contact lenses are keeping up with glasses. Now you can get bifocal or presbyopic contact lenses.

Presbyopic contact lenses have the adaptability of bifocals with the convenience of contact lenses. There are several different designs that work in different ways.

A translating lens is typically a gas permeable contact, or semi rigid contact. These aren’t as comfortable as regular soft contact lenses but work about the same. These lenses have two different prescriptions built into the lens.  A magnifier for up close reading located along the bottom of the lenses and then the distance portion along the upper half of the lens.

The concentric ring designs have different prescriptions radiating out from the center of the lens to the edges. You have to train your eyes to know which area to focus on for the right prescription power.

Aspheric lenses typically work more like progressive lens glasses. They have the near vision prescription concentrated along the center of the lens and then the far prescription along the outer perimeter. Like with the concentric ring design you’ll have to train your eyes where to look when selecting the proper power setting.

Selecting presbyopic contact lenses is a big decision. You’ll need to talk with your optometrist about what’s the perfect choice for your eyes. With a little bit of time and effort you’ll be seeing like new in no time.

Caring for gas permeable contact lenses isn’t as easy as just tossing out a pair of disposable soft lenses. It will take a little bit of effort. It’s still a much better solution than wearing glasses though.

With contact lenses you don’t have to worry about getting those unsightly nose indentations or looking bug eyed from a really strong prescription. 

• The first thing you need to do is clean and sanitize your hands. Be sure to scrub thoroughly to remove any dirt and grime you might have on your hands. If you don’t it’s going in your eye. If you don’t use antibacterial soap then it’s a good idea to use hand sanitizer after you finish washing up. 
• Next thing you’ll want to do is plug the sink drain. Trust me, I’ve lost enough lenses down the drain, don’t learn the hard way. 
• Remove a contact lens from your eye and place it on the tip of your index finger or in the palm of your hand. 
•  Next rinse the lens again, this time with saline solution this will keep any gunk that might be in the tap water from getting in the lens. 
• Place the lens inside its storage case. 
• Fill the contact lens cap up with a conditioning solution and then close the lid.
• Use a couple drops of cleaner solution to fill up the contact lens. Work the solution in with your fingers for about half a minute. Don’t rub too hard though or the lens might tear. 
• Once you’re finished scrubbing rinse the lens off with some tap water to get rid of all the cleaning solution. 
• Next rinse the lens again, this time with saline solution this will keep any gunk that might be in the tap water from getting in the lens.
• Place the lens inside its storage case.
• Fill the contact lens cap up with a conditioning solution and then close the lid