in this video we're going to compare reading glasses versus computer glasses
sharing tips on when over-the-counter reading glasses can be used as computer glasses
which powers may work the best as well as sharing tips on how to find the best prescription computer
glasses they're going to help you see your best as well as relieve eyestrain let's take a look
hey what's up everyone dr allen here from the dr eye health show this channel is all about helping
you see your best helping you take care of your eyes so you not just your best today but on into
the future so if you like learning about this cool stuff hit that subscribe button down for me that
way you'll always be notified when i have a new video coming out now today we're talking all about
reading glasses versus computer glasses and a lot of people ask me if reading glasses are the same
as computer glasses and oftentimes no but sometimes yes it really depends on
if you need prescription glasses generally just to see in the distance or not if you are somebody who
doesn't need prescription glasses to see far away then oftentimes just picking up reading glasses
work great for seeing things up close and if you're someone where that works great for
then yes over-the-counter reading glasses could be used as computer glasses but it depends on
the power that you need and that's because in general when we are reading up close we hold
books and papers much more closer than where we have things like the computer screen now knowing
which power of over-the-counter reading glasses to use can be a little challenging without a thorough
eye examination but a lot of people find success just going to a dollar store or wherever you
normally will find over-the-counter reading glasses and they just try on the different powers
right there's lower powers around plus one it goes usually up to plus three or so and people try to
mix and match finding what's comfortable for them but in general you can use age as kind of just a
loose guideline a lot of the times the younger you are toward the early to mid 40s you want to
start on that lower end and as you get close to about age 55 and older you're going to be looking
something closer to maybe the 2 to 2.50 range again that's a rough guideline there's some other
factors to play in there and if you're not really sure what's going on of course you want to talk
to your local eye doctor in optometry you base a lot of reading needs and reading power based on
somebody's Harmon distance this is the distance from somebody's elbow to their middle knuckle
where you would normally hold reading material and then have kind of equal distance to your eyes
for a lot of people this is around 40 centimeters and in the math world we use 1 over 0.40
meters which is 40 centimeters that equals 2.5 diopters that's why for a lot of people's bifocal
ad or recommended over-the-counter reading glasses are usually somewhere around a 2.25
or a 2.50 dioptric power but again that can be tailored based on how far out you hold your
reading material for taller individuals their arms are usually longer so we often prescribe
something a little bit less something like a 2.25 and for people who are shorter they usually
have smaller arms so then the power needs to be increased so we're usually around that 2.50 mark
but for computer glasses again this is for somebody that doesn't need a prescription pair for
computer glasses the computer should be further away about a full arm's length away from you
and because of that people need less power and in the clinic i often will make a measurement
that's pretty close to their arm's length away and that's usually found somewhere around a plus 1.50
up to a plus two with a kind of a sweet spot i find around the 1.75 range but if you're
somebody who happens to use a laptop on the go such as you're at an airport or something like
that the screen is typically a little closer in those situations so perhaps getting something
stronger either that 1.75 or up to a plus two may work just as good or a little bit better for you
now the whole point of either using reading glasses or computer glasses is of course so
you can magnify images make your vision clear and reduce any eye strain from prolonged tasks
whether you're reading a book working on papers or again working on the computer all day now
again some of these numbers i'm throwing out are usually best for people who are age 55 and older
a lot of the times when you're younger than that age we don't like to prescribe more than half
of somebody's accommodative reserve because when you're younger than age 55-60 a lot of
people are still able to use their eye muscles to focus on near objects so if you're not sure about
really finding the ones that are most comfortable for you then definitely talk to your eye doctor
about what power they recommend now there is just a new option for people who don't need the
prescription glasses into the distance and that is the new eye drop called Vuity and recently talked
about this in a recent video so if you want to check that out as an eye drop to replace the
kind of constant need for reading glasses and computer glasses i'll put a link to that video
in the description below and i'll try to put that here on the youtube card on the screen that way
you can learn a little bit more about that option and if it's something that you're interested in
now if you are somebody who spends a lot of time in front of the computer all day let's say
for work or things like that or you experience eye strain or you require prescription glasses
all the time to see far away up close all those things then getting a prescription
pair of computer glasses are likely going to give you not only the best vision and comfort with your
eyesight but also probably make you even more productive working on these devices now there
are several options for prescription computer glasses and some options may work better for some
rather than others so i want to break down a few of your options number one is just a dedicated
full prescription pair for just the computer screen this is a pair of glasses where the
power is completely dialed in and dedicated just for your computer use distance that means the
entire lens is just one single power and just everything looks nice sharp crystal clear and
i personally find a lot of my patients come back and tell me that these are some of their favorite
glasses that they have largely because they don't have a bifocal they don't have a progressive
nothing really gets in their way of seeing their computer screen clearly and i think if you're
somebody who has dual screen monitors this will probably work the best again because you're not
constantly searching for where the clear part of your glasses is going to be a small note though
is that when you're wearing these glasses because they're set for a specific distance
if somebody comes in through your office door or you turn around to look in the distance
things are going to be a bit blurry and so some people either look over the top of their glasses
if they can otherwise they're going to have to switch to their regular glasses that's just the
one little thing you have to keep in mind now some people do just go with something like a standard
progressive lens these are the bifocals that don't have the line it's all blended together
and that means you have a distance zone at the top typically and then the very bottom is meant for
more reading and in the middle is a small corridor meant for the computer now the downside to having
just a regular progressive lens like this is that small computer corridor is usually pretty tiny
and i see a lot of people bending their neck and constantly like trying to find that sweet spot
to be able to see the computer screen clearly and even if you do find that sweet spot a lot
of people are stuck like with their neck just in this position looking down a little bit and that
ends up putting unneeded pressure on the neck and that can lead to neck shoulder pain and yeah you
don't want that so for these individuals again not only would a dedicated computer screen pair
probably work really well but they could also get a dedicated office lens an office lens is
kind of like a progressive lens except the top of the lens the really large part of the lens
is for the computer and then the smaller progressive toward the bottom is just so that you
can see anything on your desk any sort of papers or briefs right in front of you i find these work
really well for anybody who's doing any sort of data entry into a computer because they can glance
downward and then glance back at the computer and be able to read everything very well but just
like we mentioned before the distance part of the glasses is meant for the computer so if somebody
does enter the office then it's gonna be a little hard to see them you may have to switch back to a
different pair but what do you think have you used computer glasses over the counter glasses what are
you using to see your best when on the computer one final thing that a lot of people ask is if
computer glasses and blue light glasses are the same thing and i touched on that in another video
going over more details about that specifically blue light filters blue light glasses that sort
of stuff so check out that video over here to the side click or tap there you'll learn all about it
otherwise again thank you so much for watching keep an eye on it we'll talk to you soon you