There is more to wearing glasses comfortably than your prescription alone. Heavy frames or improperly fitted eyeglasses may put pressure on your nose or the sides of your head, causing discomfort, and the same goes for glasses that sit too close or too far from your eyes. Let's explore some possible reasons for that annoying pain around your eyes, forehead, and temples.
If it has been over a year since your last eye exam, it’s definitely time to have your eyes checked. How do you know if you need glasses? Only a trained eye doctor can tell you for sure.
You know that an outdated prescription is not the headache culprit&151;because you just got a brand new pair of glasses. Your eye doctor may have warned you about this, but sometimes it can take a little time for your eyes to adjust to a new prescription. Blurry vision can occur&151;even with a correct prescription&151;as your eyes adjust.
While resting your eyes by removing your glasses may help with discomfort as you adapt to your new prescription, you should wear your eyeglasses as your optometrist has prescribed. If you repeatedly remove your glasses, your eyes and brain must work harder and it will take longer to adjust. If you wear the glasses as prescribed, any vision issues should resolve within a week. If a week has passed and you are still experiencing discomfort, check in again with your eye doctor to make sure there is not a prescription error.
Factors other than an incorrect prescription could be responsible for a headache when you’re wearing your glasses. Your glasses should be customized to fit the distance between your pupils. The frames should also rest comfortably in a position that puts the lenses the proper distance from your eyes.
Heavy glasses or an unsuitable frame adjustment can cause pain behind the ears if the temples pinch into the sides of your head. Frames that are too small can also pinch there, while frames that are too loose may slip down your nose or rest in the wrong place, so your eyes have to work harder to compensate.
Your optician can adjust your frames to ensure your glasses fit properly.
Eye strain comes from the overworking of muscles around the eye that must continually adjust in order to focus. Repeated attempts to focus occur for different reasons, including acclimating to a new prescription. But eye strain is also a common problem among computer users.
Wearing reading glasses while using the computer is a habit that often causes eye strain. Remember, reading glasses are for close-up work&151;closer than the normal distance between you and a monitor.
Eye strain also happens to anyone who spends a lot of time looking at screens, whether they wear glasses or not. Simple eyestrain fixes include adjusting the lighting in your workspace and following the 20-20-20 rule: Look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes.
The eye-strain effects of screen time can be mitigated with a variety of lens options. A digital light protection coating can filter out about 20% of blue light and also help to reduce glare. Digital light protection can be applied to prescription or non-prescription lenses, so even people who don’t wear prescription lenses can take advantage of it. Anti-glare lens coating can also cut down on screen glare and eye strain. Finally, looking through scratched lenses may cause eye discomfort, so replace your lenses as necessary.
Eyeglasses are supposed to make your vision clearer and more comfortable. If they seem to be doing the opposite, these tips should point you in the right direction. Even if you’re not experiencing discomfort, visit your eye doctor annually to discover and correct vision problems.
See More Like This
Also see: Reading Glasses | How to Measure Pupillary Distance or PD | What Are Progressive Lenses? | Understanding Your Prescription | Need to Order Lenses Only?