Slashdot Mirror
Contact Lenses for Computer Professionals?
LxDengar writes "For anyone who uses a computer around 10-plus hours a day, eye strain can become a serious issue. According to the American Optometric Association, 70-75% of computer workers experience eye and vision problems. Although I've tried contacts in the past, I found that my eyes dried out very quickly, and so switched back to glasses. Recently, my eye doctor mentioned a series of new contacts with better hydration for the eyes, and targeted to computer professionals (Acuvue, Ocular Sciences, etc). Do you wear contacts when staring at your screen for long periods? What contacts does community recommend for long periods at the computer?"
I have been wearing contact lenses for over 20 years now and have gone through gas permeable hard lenses, soft monthly lenses and most recently daily disposables. The dailies are great, I wear them from 7 in the morning until at least 10 pm and I work with computers all day long. Dailies are good because they are so thin but this does make them a bit fragile. However, if you are careful with them they can also be worn for a week per pair (I just use the normal soft lens peroxide cleaning systems that are available over the counter) and if a pair of lenses are getting a bit scappy I chuck them and open a fresh set. The companies that make these lenses would rather you wear the dailies, um, well, daily, but they are made from exactly the same materials as weeklies but I find the dailies much more comfortable because they are so thin. However, the dailies work out pretty expensive unless you clean and reuse them in which case they are very cost effective as well as the most comfortable lenses you can buy.
"I have the attention span of a strobe lit goldfish, please get to the point quickly!"
Staring at a screen reduces the blinking frequency. When blinking less often, the eyes dry faster. The lack of moisture is even worse when contact lenses are worn. Dry eyes irritate faster. Contact lenses accelerate the irritation and make it worse. And if you start rubbing your eyes on top of all that, then you are really in for some reaally nice inflammation... Do yourself a favor : don't go that way and keep wearing glasses.
I still use throwaway contacts, but only for outdoor activities of when I just want to go out with no glasses. I spend most of my waking hours in front of screens and then glasses are the best tool : they correct well, they are easy on the eyes and their field of view is bigger that the screens anyway.
Now let the Lasik flamewar begin.