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Emily Eye Care, LLC
Lily Yeh, OD
Aaron Lewis, OD

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Home » Optical » Specialty Lenses

Specialty Lenses

 

Specialty Lenses

The world in which we live has become more varied and diverse than it was in the past. 
190 Fly FishermanIncreasingly, we find that a "one-size-fits-all" philosophy no longer applies. Both in the workplace and at leisure, things have changed. With change has come the increased need for clear, comfortable vision…in a variety of situations.

Today, many eyeglass wearers find that a single lens design doesn't perform adequately for their lifestyle. Their work-related tasks may center around computer screens and keyboards while their recreational activities center around fly rods, 
scuba diving or golf clubs. "Specialty Lenses" exist in a variety of designs that can optimize visual performance and comfort in almost any situation. Some of these designs are discussed below.

Computer Lenses

Working for long periods on a computer is a demanding visual task. Daily, millions of Americans use a computer for hours at a time, both at work and at play. Many of them routinely experience symptoms of  headache, fatigue, blurry vision, scratchy eyes, or 
pain in the shoulders, neck or back. 190 Computerx149

Computer lenses are designed to wear when doing computer work. They allow you to focus your eyes comfortably on a computer screen, which is usually farther away than reading material is held. Computer lenses are available in a variety of configurations. Depending on your specific needs, you may be best served by modified reading lenses, special bifocals or progressive lenses. In many cases, progressive lenses work best. Progressive lenses created primarily for computer use vary somewhat from one manufacturer to another; your eye doctor can suggest which lens  is best for you.

Driving Lenses

How prescription lenses will be used greatly influences their design. In the case of driving lenses, whether the lenses will be used for night or daytime driving is the major consideration.  Daytime driving glasses usually equate to sunglasses. The major daytime driving problems to overcome are total brightness levels and reflected glare. Some common sources for reflected glare are hard surfaces like car windshields, chrome bumpers, etc. These surfaces cause the reflected light to become horizontally polarized and subject to blocking by lenses which are vertically polarized. Polarized lenses are not useful for night driving because nighttime glare is not polarized and polarized lenses are tinted.

Other types of "glare" can be a problem when driving at night. Headlights of oncoming cars can be blindingly bright. Any lens reflects a certain amount of light off its front and rear surfaces. You need all light possible entering your eyes to help you see obstacles in the road, pedestrians, etc. Anti-reflective lenses decrease reflections and transmit more usable light to your eyes. Under daylight conditions, anti-reflective lenses reflect 
so little light back to observers that the lenses appear to be nearly invisible. Many wearers have switched to anti-reflective lenses for all their eyewear needs due to the cosmetic advantages alone.

Sports Eyewear

190 Lady GolferIf you play any sports you probably find that there are times when your regular prescription just doesn't give you the vision you require. Are you tired of not being able to accurately 
"read" the green and sink that putt? Would fishing or boating 
be more comfortable on sunny days, if you could just get rid of that glare coming off the water? Does the wind make your eyes water when you really get moving on that new mountain bike? 

If any of the above sounds familiar, you should "look into" sports eyewear. In addition to providing a greater degree of eye protection, specially designed sports eyewear can enhance visual clarity and improve your performance on the tennis court, shooting range, ski slopes or even underwater the next time you go snorkeling or scuba diving.

Sports eyewear is as varied and diverse as the sporting and leisure activities enjoyed by people today. Even within a specific type of sports eyewear, there are a variety of options that can optimize the eyewear's performance for your particular needs. 

A Few Points To Consider

GolfingAn independent study in Golf Digest between bifocal wearers and progressive lens wearers showed noticeable improvement in the golf games of the progressive wearers as compared to current bifocal wearers. Photochromic lenses which adjust to varying light levels can be an advantage as well.

Fishing/BoatingUncomfortable glare from the water's surface is polarized, just like glare off car windshields and bumpers. Polarized sunglass lenses can not only help you see where the fish are, they can help you see that rock just below the surface of the water…in time to avoid it! Water is a great reflector of ultraviolet light so UV blocking in your lenses is highly recommended.

Musical Instruments: Do you ever have trouble seeing your sheet music when playing the piano or other musical instrument? Do you have to tilt your head back to see clearly? Are things blurry because the music stand is too far away? Lenses designed specifically for the instrument you play can easily solve these problems.

Snow Skiing: An amber or rose tint in your ski goggles will enhance the soft gray shadows on a ski slope that indicate ridges or bumps in the surface. Snow reflects high levels of ultraviolet light so UV blocking lenses should always be used.

Target/Trap-shooting: Eye protection is a major consideration; polycarbonate lenses with a scratch-resistant surface should be mandatory. "Shooting tints" increase contrast. Polarized lenses filter out glare and reflection.

Tennis/Racquet SportsA recent report by Prevent Blindness America found that hospital emergency rooms treat over of 40,000 sports-related eye injuries each year. Tennis racquets and balls are an obvious eye hazard. Racquetballs can travel between 
60 and 200 miles per hour. Here too, polycarbonate lenses should be mandatory. 

Swimming, Scuba Diving, SnorkelingPrescription dive masks give you nearly the 
same vision underwater as you get on land with your eyeglasses. Nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hyperopia), and astigmatism can all be accurately corrected. Some dive masks have a fixed lens area in the front, but allow an insert containing prescription lenses to be placed behind the mask lens. If you're a contact lens wearer, you can use the mask both with and without your contacts. When wearing your contacts, simply remove the prescription insert.