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Dry Eye and Working on the Computer All Day
I’m 60 years old, so of course I have presbyopia. If that weren’t enough I’m diabetic so my vision can vary a bit from day to day, and since I spend long hours working on a computer I’ve developed dry eye. I'm between stage 2 and stage 3 depending on the day and time of year. So basically, I can't bend the lenses in my eye with a crowbar. I have no ability to change focal length with my eye muscles the way people generally do.
Early in the morning I can read, work on the computer and see distances fairly well. I’m a plus prescription so my reading is the issue. The more I write or look at my computer screen, the worse my vision gets. As I work throughout the day, my vision declines.. By early evening I can’t see much that isn’t blurry or distorted. Sometimes by dinner time, I can no longer read at all, or if I do read I have to live with the blurry words. I’m normally a very fast reader, but I can’t read fast when I can’t see well.
My right eye seems to be worse than my left. A lot of times my left eye is still in focus while my right eye has gone out of focus. Because of the binocular effect, when both eyes are open the print is somewhat blurry. This is very annoying.
I need to use the computer for my work, so giving that up is out of the question. I tried several solutions to keep me working. I took frequent breaks, used eye drops (practically every brand made), bought tranquileyes and used hot compresses on my eyes a couple of times a day. All of them worked but only for a few minutes and then the problems came right back. In addition, it is difficult to stop working every hour and use hot towels and the other stuff. It really cuts my productivity.
In September I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about a pair of glasses that had won the Journal’s Silver award for innovation. Essentially, Trufocals have a lens in them that bend just like the natural lens in a human eye. In front of the inner lens is another lens that has an individual’s prescription in it. That means that in addition to your specific prescription, the focal length is adjustable up to an add of 2.75. It's the same as having a variable lens like they use in your eye doc's office to fit you with glasses.
I got my first pair the first week of November, and so far they’ve made a huge difference in the number of hours that I’m able to work in a day, and at night I can adjust them so I can read. I’ve had to fight blurry vision for years at night.
I suspect the ability to refocus has reduced the strain on my eyes by a considerable amount. Since I started using the glasses, my eyes don't seem to be as dry or as tired. At night I can see better with my regular glasses, even though the Trufocals are better. I can read much better than before. I read an issue of Kiplinger's magazine the other night at 12:30 am. That would have been impossible during the last 3 years or so.
If you want to learn about them, go to the Superfocus website or google Wall Street Journal and Trufocals. Popular Science gave them an innovation award also. I was skeptical as to whether they would help my problems in particular. I knew the glasses could replace progressives and bifocals, especially for people that have multiple pairs of glasses, but my problems are more complicated than that. The Superfocus people have a 30 day no questions asked money back guarantee so if I didn’t like them or they didn’t work I could send them back. For me that was the deciding factor, and after a few weeks of using them I’m definitely not sending them back.
At the end of November I ordered a second pair because if anything happens to these I’m back in the same vision nightmare I’ve been in for several years. That’s not going to happen, so I’ll keep a spare pair handy.
The glasses range in price from $700 to $900. They make them to your prescription so it takes a few weeks to get them. If you give them this code when you order either by phone or online SO-001153 they’ll give you a 10% discount. The superfocus website gives you all the information you need to place an order. I posted a blog entry on their site that explains more about my problems, and how I test my glasses. google superfocus blog
The prescription lenses on the front pop off so you can order multiple pairs of lens for $80 a pair if your prescription changes or like in my case, you want to have adjustment options. Because the lens are round, you can switch the left and right eye around. Of course normally you wouldn't want to do that because of your script, but it's handy for buying spare lens to correct gradually as my right eye fades. (My correction is a plus correction for farsightedness. Nearsightedness corrections are minus corrections.) So I ordered an extra set of lens with same right eye astigmatism correction in each lens but one lens was +0.25 add in the sphere correction and the other one was +0.50 add in sphere correction. That way when my right eye gets worse, I can change the right lens on the Trufocal glasses which brings the left and right eye back into balance and then I can refocus both eyes so the text is sharp on the computer or when I'm reading. I also have a set of lens that increases the sphere in the right and left eye so on the really bad days it gives me more focal distance correction using the Trufocal slide. For most people the trufocals slider changes the focal length so much that's all they'll ever need. In fact, One set of trufocals are adjustable enough I could have skip the last two script revisions and not bought new $600 a pair progressives. I have to have special progressive lens that shops like Walmart and Costco don't sell so they're expensive.
There are a lot of user reviews out there and some video that demonstrates the glasses. google trufocals reviews and you'll see plenty of independent discussion.
They’ve worked very well for me. It's has given me a way to compensate for my right eye which seems to become blurry quicker than my left eye.
Not being able to work is very frustrating. At least it is for me.
Early in the morning I can read, work on the computer and see distances fairly well. I’m a plus prescription so my reading is the issue. The more I write or look at my computer screen, the worse my vision gets. As I work throughout the day, my vision declines.. By early evening I can’t see much that isn’t blurry or distorted. Sometimes by dinner time, I can no longer read at all, or if I do read I have to live with the blurry words. I’m normally a very fast reader, but I can’t read fast when I can’t see well.
My right eye seems to be worse than my left. A lot of times my left eye is still in focus while my right eye has gone out of focus. Because of the binocular effect, when both eyes are open the print is somewhat blurry. This is very annoying.
I need to use the computer for my work, so giving that up is out of the question. I tried several solutions to keep me working. I took frequent breaks, used eye drops (practically every brand made), bought tranquileyes and used hot compresses on my eyes a couple of times a day. All of them worked but only for a few minutes and then the problems came right back. In addition, it is difficult to stop working every hour and use hot towels and the other stuff. It really cuts my productivity.
In September I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about a pair of glasses that had won the Journal’s Silver award for innovation. Essentially, Trufocals have a lens in them that bend just like the natural lens in a human eye. In front of the inner lens is another lens that has an individual’s prescription in it. That means that in addition to your specific prescription, the focal length is adjustable up to an add of 2.75. It's the same as having a variable lens like they use in your eye doc's office to fit you with glasses.
I got my first pair the first week of November, and so far they’ve made a huge difference in the number of hours that I’m able to work in a day, and at night I can adjust them so I can read. I’ve had to fight blurry vision for years at night.
I suspect the ability to refocus has reduced the strain on my eyes by a considerable amount. Since I started using the glasses, my eyes don't seem to be as dry or as tired. At night I can see better with my regular glasses, even though the Trufocals are better. I can read much better than before. I read an issue of Kiplinger's magazine the other night at 12:30 am. That would have been impossible during the last 3 years or so.
If you want to learn about them, go to the Superfocus website or google Wall Street Journal and Trufocals. Popular Science gave them an innovation award also. I was skeptical as to whether they would help my problems in particular. I knew the glasses could replace progressives and bifocals, especially for people that have multiple pairs of glasses, but my problems are more complicated than that. The Superfocus people have a 30 day no questions asked money back guarantee so if I didn’t like them or they didn’t work I could send them back. For me that was the deciding factor, and after a few weeks of using them I’m definitely not sending them back.
At the end of November I ordered a second pair because if anything happens to these I’m back in the same vision nightmare I’ve been in for several years. That’s not going to happen, so I’ll keep a spare pair handy.
The glasses range in price from $700 to $900. They make them to your prescription so it takes a few weeks to get them. If you give them this code when you order either by phone or online SO-001153 they’ll give you a 10% discount. The superfocus website gives you all the information you need to place an order. I posted a blog entry on their site that explains more about my problems, and how I test my glasses. google superfocus blog
The prescription lenses on the front pop off so you can order multiple pairs of lens for $80 a pair if your prescription changes or like in my case, you want to have adjustment options. Because the lens are round, you can switch the left and right eye around. Of course normally you wouldn't want to do that because of your script, but it's handy for buying spare lens to correct gradually as my right eye fades. (My correction is a plus correction for farsightedness. Nearsightedness corrections are minus corrections.) So I ordered an extra set of lens with same right eye astigmatism correction in each lens but one lens was +0.25 add in the sphere correction and the other one was +0.50 add in sphere correction. That way when my right eye gets worse, I can change the right lens on the Trufocal glasses which brings the left and right eye back into balance and then I can refocus both eyes so the text is sharp on the computer or when I'm reading. I also have a set of lens that increases the sphere in the right and left eye so on the really bad days it gives me more focal distance correction using the Trufocal slide. For most people the trufocals slider changes the focal length so much that's all they'll ever need. In fact, One set of trufocals are adjustable enough I could have skip the last two script revisions and not bought new $600 a pair progressives. I have to have special progressive lens that shops like Walmart and Costco don't sell so they're expensive.
There are a lot of user reviews out there and some video that demonstrates the glasses. google trufocals reviews and you'll see plenty of independent discussion.
They’ve worked very well for me. It's has given me a way to compensate for my right eye which seems to become blurry quicker than my left eye.
Not being able to work is very frustrating. At least it is for me.
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