Preventing or reducing eye issues can help correct your posture, improve your eye health, reduce the risks of headaches. You may need regular eyeglasses, computer glasses, or both types to alleviate the strain on your eyes. Here’s an overview of the differences between eyeglasses and computer glasses, and how to tell which would be the best fit for your lifestyle.
What Are Eyeglasses?
Eyeglasses are prescription glasses used to manage eye conditions like presbyopia, diplopia, myopia, and astigmatism.
Presbyopia
Presbyopia is the loss of the eyes’ near vision. People with this condition can see objects at far distances better than they can see close objects. They hold reading materials far from their eyes to enhance their vision. As people age, it becomes more challenging for the eye lens to change shape to focus on near objects. Prescription eyeglasses for presbyopia can reduce strain on your eyes as you age if you’re having difficulty reading or seeing close objects.
Diplopia
Diplopia, or double vision, is an eye dysfunction that causes individuals to see multiple images of a single object. This could be temporary or signify serious medical conditions like hyperthyroidism and multiple sclerosis. You can manage diplopia using prism eyeglasses. They bend and redirect light before reaching the retina, helping your brain interpret single objects in one clear picture.
Myopia
Myopia, or nearsightedness, affects your ability to see distant objects. It’s a refractive error—the shape of the eye doesn’t allow light to focus as it should on the retina. Instead of focusing on the retina, light focuses in front of the retina. To correct this, you can wear minus power eyeglasses. They’re concave-shaped and help focus light on the retina.
Astigmatism
Astigmatism is an eye condition resulting from mismatched curves on the cornea or lens—the cornea or lens may curve more steeply in one direction than another. This can cause blurred vision when viewing close and distant objects. Like myopia and presbyopia, astigmatism is a refractive error requiring glasses that can properly refract light on the retina. Your glasses can be fitted with cylindrical lenses with varying calibrations, depending on the nature of your astigmatism.
What Are Computer Glasses?
Computer glasses are designed for when you’re using computers and other devices that emit blue light. The glasses can improve your screen’s clarity, eliminate computer glare, and protect your eyes from blue or high-energy visible light. They can reduce your risk of computer vision syndrome. This condition results from the prolonged viewing of digital devices, since artificial light can cause blurred vision, eye strain, fatigue, and headaches.
Computer glasses are available in different strength variations. The following factors will determine the ideal strength for your glasses:
- The size of your screen: The larger the screen, the less power needed
- Your age: Older adults need strong computer glasses since vision deteriorates with age
- How far you sit from your screen: The farther you sit from your screen, the higher the strength needed
Computer glasses feature varying lenses, ideal for different types of people. Here are the common choices:
Single Vision Glasses
These glasses can correct intermediate vision (the distance from your eyes to your screen). They have the same power throughout their lenses, making them ideal for people who only need vision correction for a single distance. Single vision glasses can eliminate the need to tilt or move your head to view your computer screen.
Bifocal and Trifocal Glasses
Computer bifocal glasses have lenses with two power prescriptions—the top part of the lens corrects intermediate vision, and the bottom part corrects reading vision. Trifocal lenses provide near (reading), far, and intermediate vision correction. Bifocal and trifocal lenses have lines separating their power prescriptions.
Progressive Glasses
Progressive glasses contain no-line multifocal lenses, allowing you to view different distances without seeing the lines separating the fields of different focal power. These glasses can be ideal if you spend most of your time on your computer. You can transition to various distances without straining your eyes or tilting your head and neck in uncomfortable positions.
Regular vs Computer Glasses: Meet Different Needs
Both regular and computer glasses can protect your vision from deteriorating. The former corrects vision problems like myopia, diplopia, and astigmatism, and the latter reduces eye strain when using computers. While computer glasses are only meant to be worn when using computers, you may need to wear eyeglasses throughout the day since they can help you see regular objects more clearly.
