Visual Stress

These days, our eyes are worked more and more - computers, lap-tops, tablets and smartphones have all increased the amount of near work we expect our eyes to perform.  Many people find that these tasks can cause the eyes to feel sore, achey or uncomfortable, and that the vision may feel a little blurry.  This can lead to general fatigue and tiredness, headaches - even migraines and double vision; it can even be associated with dyslexia.  

The visual stress test involves performing a full eye examination first, before more detailed examination of the eye muscle balance, assessment with coloured overlays and accurate measurement of the reading speed.  We can then determine whether the symptoms can be alleviated by simple changes to the visual habits - particularly following the '20-20-20' rule (every 20 minutes look at something 20 feet away for 20 second) or changing the lighting; sometimes the patient needs to use eye exercises (Orthoptics), or prescription glasses, sometimes with relieving prism incorporated, or a coloured overlay, or a combination of these.  However, very often we find that certain patients need a little more help than these simple measures, and a different solution is necessary.

Vista Mesh lenses have a light brown contrast filter, together with an optical mesh filter, full UV protection and an Easyclean reflection-free coating.  They align scattered light reflections, dampen flicker, sharpen contrast and reduce eye strain.  They are very effective in reducing the symptoms of visual stress, but can also improve general visual comfort especially for people who work on computers, drive at night, work in an office environment or spend a lot of time on tablets or smartphones. If patients find that coloured overlays offer significant improvements in visual comfort, then we can refer for assessment with an intuitive colourimeter to assess for a specialised precision tint to be incorporated into prescription glasses.  This referral can be made either to the Eye Hospital or to another optometrist.

if you would like to know more, please give us a call or send an email.