Human beings look through the eyes but see with the brain. The eyes work like a camera, they capture images and transmit the data to the brain. Brain - is the main pillar of all human learning process, creativity, capacity building, and all aspects of physical and mental development. Incapable of receiving quality visual information from the eyes, the brain forces the lens in the eyes to auto-adjust by decreasing the size of iris pupils, the eyes then automatically squint and attempt to gaze harder in order to see better. Prolonged hours of gazing usually require intense use of eye muscles, which contribute to eyestrain - a common eye condition caused by an overuse of the eyes. Eyestrain can affect brain functioning system, and may trigger other symptoms like headaches and blurring of vision.
Vision, is the outcome of the light that passes through eye cornea, aqueous humour, pupil, lens and vitreous humour. The focus point falls on photoreceptor cells in the retina, and intersects with the optics of the eye to create a two - dimensional image. The retina then translates that image into electrical neural impulses to the brain to create three-dimensional visual perception. The eyes and the brain work in tandem. Good coordination between the eyes and the brain is accounted for human being’s accurate depth and distance speculation. The eyes of those who have visual problems are not able to focus the light evenly onto the retina, resulting in them having blurry vision and false speculation of depth and distance.
Most of the teenagers and the young ones naturally have less than +1.00 diopter prescription of presbyopia. They have the eyes accommodative ability to focus, flex the natural lens inside their eyes and, to relax the focus. However, intense usage of eyes or prolonged period of gazing could induce symptoms such as pain in the eye socket and fatigue. Especially those with conditions of myopia, when having to gaze, they need to squint or partially close the eyelids to see better. When they read, the reading material has to be close - up. If they have the prescription of myopia over -4.00 diopter, the comfort of normal eye usage at near distance vision would be less than those who are free from any visual problems.
Today, the number of people who are visually impaired is much higher than that in the past. People of this generation have lifestyles that greatly involve the use of technology, coupled with the lack of good night sleep, they are prone to experience visual problems earlier than they are naturally supposed to. Sansara Magazine is honored to have Khun Somboon Numtipjuntacharern, also known as Bobi – the world class expert in eye examination technique, to be here with us for an exclusive interview. We are very pleased to have him share with us what we need to know about eyes and vision, and the guidelines if we would like to have a good quality of vision for as long as we live.
When should we start taking care of eye health and vision ?
At the very least, I advise all parents to start taking care of their children’s eye health under the supervision of professional ophthalmologist as early as when they are about one month old. Comprehensive examination of cornea, lens, pupils, retina, etc. should be conducted to confirm that the toddlers are free from any eye - health related abnormalities. At six-month old, toddlers should take visual acuity test for lazy eye syndrome. As they turn one-year-old, they should go through a binocular viewing test. A proper visual acuity test to find any possible visual problems should take place at age two, four, and six. As they enter their teenage years, they should undergo a thorough vision and eye examination. In any cases, children with noticeable symptoms of visual problems or eye pain should be immediately inspected and taken to see the eye doctors.
At what age should visual acuity problems be corrected ?
As soon as the problems are identified and diagnosed. The sooner the problems are treated and corrected, the better the chance to have effective result. Especially visual acuity problems in small children, it is best to have them treated before the age of six since all aspects of vision are fully developed by about that age. This is very serious and should be properly take care of, otherwise your children could end up having vision impaired for the rest of their lives. Great vision brings great potential in human beings, so please do not overlook the importance of your children’s vision as they might grow up to be one of the notable persons who can make changes to the society and this world.
What is the cause of Pseudomyopia, is there a treatment for it ?
The number of children of this generation diagnosed of myopia has risen. Today’s teenagers go to bed and wake up much later than teenagers used to do in the past. Society and the world have changed, so have the people and their way of living. Growing up around computers and technological devices, the young ones fill most of their time on screens and smartphones. Pseudomyopia is commonly caused by spending a lot of time focusing on near objects for prolonged hours, which causes the eye focusing muscle ( ciliary muscle ) overstrained and cramped, and make distance vision become blurry. The best treatment for Pseudomyopia is improvement of one’s own environment and lifestyles by trying to stay away from close work or focusing on near objects for too long. A lot of rest and any kind of natural remedies that would bring an inner peace such as yoga or outdoor sports help. After the ciliary muscle is recovered back to normal, a change of lifestyles is needed. Every half an hour or one hour, change the distance of your vision, and take regular breaks from the screen if you have to work with computer. Do not focus your vision at any particular distance within 6 meters or closer for too long. Avoid looking at things such as computer or smartphone screens that emit reflective light. Do frequently rest your eyes and blink often especially when you are in front of your computer. In general, do avoid gazing at things for prolonged period of time. Use proper visual aid if needed, to reduce the workload of your eyes.
A comprehensive checkup after full recovery from Pseudomyopia should be taken. In some cases, children suffering from Pseudomyopia may not require eyeglasses; they need lifestyles change. Using eyeglasses to treat Pseudomyopia might stimulate the symptom, and escalate the condition to myopia in the end.
For people with normal vision, when do they start losing the ability to see clearly ?
Children born with normal vision have the ability to gaze for only seconds in order to see crystal clear at all distance, because the lens in the eyes is elastic and so, can transform its shape easily to enable the eyes to change focus from looking at something far away to looking at something close up naturally. However, as we get older, lens in our eyes start to lose its elasticity. This change in focusing tends to become more noticeable when we reach the age of 40, as we then find it difficult to focus on things that are at the normal reading distance especially under the dim light. Gazing for prolonged period of time becomes harder. It is quite common to see people who experience presbyopia holding things away from them in an attempt to see them clearly. Presbyopia can affect anyone, however, those diagnosed with myopia before the age of 40 could start to experience presbyopia later than those with normal vision.
Why do we lose the ability to read and see things with clarity by the age of 40 ?
This vision imperfection occurs with the progression of age; the beginning usually takes place between the ages of 40 to 45. This is vision imperfection of presbyopia is the natural process of the eye losing the ability to accommodate or change the shape of the lens inside the eye to see comfortably at near distance. Most of the people in the 40s have visual acuity of +1.00 diopter.
However, many of them choose to ignore their eye health and vision care thinking that it is not crucial. The fact is, this situation is lot more serious than they think it is, as the thinking and decision making process of the brain is directly affected by vision. Therefore, great quality of vision means fast ability to solve problems, make decisions, take actions, etc. Better vision also means better work efficiency as a whole.
Can people with presbyopia use the normal reading glasses that are vastly available in market ?
In general, reading glasses are the solution for people with presbyopia. However, the eyeglasses and lens power should be prescribed according to the wearers’ visual acuity. Presbyopia is a natural part of aging but choosing the right eyeglasses can help prevent any further visual problems in the long term. Wrongly prescribed reading glasses could urge the problem to be worse than it should be. Many people with presbyopia opt to use single focal lens eyeglasses or general reading glasses for daily life activities as well, which could worsen the condition as these eyeglasses are meant to use for reading or seeing things at near distance only.
For example, those who have +1.00 diopter presbyopia wearing +1.00 diopter reading glasses will have the best visual clarity seeing things at near distance up to 40 centimeters. The image further than 40 centimeters distance will be blurred because the distance is outside of the eyeglasses focus. Looking at things a little further than 40 centimeters, say 45 centimeters away, their eyes will attempt to focus in order to see clearer. Once their eyes are able to achieve focusing on the image that is out of focusing power through the eyeglasses, the eyeglasses’ ability to facilitate near distance vision drops. As a result, their presbyopia symptom gets worse and the eyeglasses prescription has to be renewed with higher lens power.
Apart from this, a list of things is also accounted for in order to get the right prescription eyeglasses. The accuracy and preciseness of the eye examination play an important role, which is the reason why it is best to search for reliable and notable place to undergo the process. The quality of sleep or medication taken prior to the eye examination may also affect the test result. All these variations need to be properly identified by eye practitioners who are to perform the examination for you. Experienced eyeglasses makers will certainly be able to get you the eyeglasses that fit perfectly on your face, giving you the best quality of vision accompanied with the ultimate wearing comfort.
ISOPTIK vision and eyeglasses center, the world’s leader in progressive lens technology
Bobi’s strong passion and aspiration in providing the most natural and the best quality of vision at all distance at every split second to those between the age of 40 and 120, has changed so many lives by bringing back the vision they used to have during their youth, and empowering their brain to be able to work efficiently with the ultimate wearing comfort. Expertise in progressive eyeglasses, ISOPTIK makes personalized eyeglasses according to each customer’s eye examination and vision test. Applying the advanced digital 3D virtual technology, ISOPTIK’s eyeglasses are produced and crafted to fit perfectly with the facial and head shape of each customer. The production is also based on the lifestyles and viewing behavior of each customer. The personalization process allows ISOPTIK’s eyeglasses to deliver the best quality of the eyeglasses and the highest quality of vision to each customer no matter when and where they have their eyeglasses on.
General reading eyeglasses are mass-produced in order to lower the production cost. These eyeglasses are generally not expensive, but are poorly made with low quality. They usually demand drastic adjustment from the wearers. The wearing discomfort makes things even worse for some wearers. Many of them end up wasting their money on eyeglasses that do not work for them at all.
Our customers come to ISOPTIK and get their eyeglasses made with us, and they can never go back to their old eyeglasses. One of the customers lost the eyeglasses made by us. Left without any other choice, he had to pick up the old ones to use instead. Almost instantly, he found it difficult and unbearable to use those eyeglasses as they gave him terrible headaches. He finally had to rush back to see us and get the new eyeglasses made immediately. We re-created a new pair of eyeglasses for him within nine days. The normal production time is one month, but it was our pleasure to have served our customers with fast action of service. It was almost unbelievable but when it happened to himself, that was when that he realized the drastic difference between ISOPTIK’s eyeglasses and the other general eyeglasses.
