Prevent Blindness, the nation’s leading volunteer eye health and safety organization has declared March as Workplace Eye Wellness Month. In a pre COVID world this topic would be geared mostly to work environments such as construction or medical labs, but now that working from home has become the new normal during the pandemic, it is crucial to address the specific challenges associated with working remotely.
In a work setting such as manufacturing or construction, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) requires employers to provide eye and face protection against chemical, environmental, radiological and mechanical irritants and hazards. Various forms of safety eyewear include prescription and non-prescription safety glasses, goggles, face shields, welding helmets, and full face respirators.
WFH (working from home) has created increased awareness of a common condition known as computer vision syndrome (CVS). Symptoms of CVS include blurred vision, eye strain, headaches, and tired, burning, itchy eyes. Home offices which are often just the kitchen table or a folding chair and desk set up in the basement lend themselves to poor ergonomics which also contributes to exacerbating digital eye strain.
Some tips to reduce symptoms of CVS include:
- Placing computer screens 20-26” away from the eyes and below eye level
- Computer glasses with antireflective coatings and blue light filters
- Following the 20-20-20 rule – every 20 minutes look 20 feet away for 20 seconds
- Using high quality artificial tears for dry eye
Imagine this – you go outside on a beautiful sunny day and realize that you left your sunglasses at home – ordinarily you would be squinting and uncomfortable but not anymore – now your contact lenses turn dark when you go outside! Acuvue Oasys, the wildly popular two week contact lens from Johnson and Johnson has joined technological forces with Transitions Optical to create Acuvue Oasys with Transitions. This new product got so much positive buzz that it was selected by Time Magazine as one of 2018’s BEST INVENTIONS OF 2018. Like the regular Oasys lens, the Oasys with Transitions is a two week lens that can be cleaned with either standard multipurpose solution or a hydrogen peroxide based system. It takes 30 seconds to activate when you go outside and ninety seconds to turn back to clear when you go back inside. When the lens is fully activated outside it filters 70% of outdoor light, and even inside it filters about 15% of indoor light. 
The study examined other foods that have flavonoids such as tea, apples and red wine (yes please) but for some reason oranges were the only food that aided in the prevention of AMD. The authors of the study acknowledge that more research has to be done before doctors can definitely prescribe an orange a day to keep AMD away.
Who doesn’t love sunglasses? After all, how many fashion accessories can also claim to be important medical devices? Whether you prefer glamorous or sporty, classic or trendy, sunglasses are a fashion statement that never goes out of style. In honor of National Sunglasses Day which takes place on June 27, here are a few facts about sunglasses that might be new to you.
Just because sunglasses are dark does not mean they have UV protection! In fact many of those cheap sunglasses you buy off street vendors are tinted but have no UV and are even more dangerous than not wearing anything at all. If the glasses are dark your pupil will open up even wider to let more ligh
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