Here's the best evidence I've seen for the benefits of eye exercise in the reviews of this book entitled "Improve Your Vision Without Glasses or Contact Lenses" : http://www.amazon.com/review/produc...cm_cr_acr_txt?_encoding=UTF8&showViewpoints=1 If you look at the reviews, most of the people have expressed some degree of success with the program of eye exercises and weaker eyeglass prescriptions. It would be pretty difficult for someone to make up that many false reviews on the Amazon website. I just read the book now and it all makes sense. I have yet to actually try the program and see if it actually works.
Don't get bifocals for computer use. Bifocals are designed for reading a book -- i.e. looking down. If you use them on the computer screen, you have to tilt your head up to see. For computer use, you should get single vision reading glasses specifically prescribed for the eye-to-monitor distance.
I've started to use a pair of weak glasses whenever I work on the computer. My normal eyeglass prescription is -3.25 for each eye. I obtained a pair of with a prescription of -1.75 for each eye from Zenni optical for only $8. These glasses are just strong enough for me to see the computer screen about 2 feet away. I had to write a computer program at work which involved two 12 hour days in a row of staring at the screen. Normally my eyes would be aching like crazy after so much computer time. However with the weak glasses, my eyes felt great at the end of the day. I put my normal glasses on to drive home and found that I was able to see much better than I normally would after so much computer time. I thought originally that the strain in my eyes would be eliminated with the change from CRT to LCD screens but I found no difference at all. I realize now that the strain is caused by focusing my eyes close up for hours at a time. The key to prevent this strain is to have glasses that force the eyes to focus at a distance. I'd recommend to anyone who suffers from eyestrain at the computer to get themselves a pair of glasses that makes your eyes focus at a distance. A person with normal 20/20 vision might need a hyperoptic prescription of +1 or so. Basically you would need a prescription that's about 1 to 1 1/2 diopters greater than what you would need for normal distance vision. Notice in this article, the writer is testing a pair of expensive computer glasses to reduce eyestrain at the computer. At the end of the article he comes to the same conclusion that a cheap pair of glasses from the drugstore with a prescription of +1.25 would do the job: http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/high-performance-eyewear-guess-again/?apage=4
<i>Optometrists will claim that myopia is an inherited condition but all the evidence shows that it's a behavioural condition. </i> What evidence? Your personal research involving you, a trained monkey, and Al Gore ? Links to your research please???? <i>If people were born with myopia, evolution would naturally eliminate the condition since those people would make poor hunters. </i> Maybe it makes poor hunters but good plant gatherers? Or maybe when you're hunting for a woolly mammoth it doesn't matter if you're wearing glasses, you can't miss the sucker as he's as big as a car? Just because something "seems" to make sense in a drug induced haze doesn't make it a fact. I can't stay here browsing the internet all day, I'm off to hunt woolly mammoths!
http://www.myopia.org/ebook/11chapter6.htm http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-22308354_ITM The jury is still out on the cause of myopia. Most Optometrists believe that it's something you're born with. They are trained only to prescribe glasses for the condition. It's not in their interest to tell you not to look too close for too long. How can Optometrists make any money by telling you that? I don't believe for a minute that we know everything yet about myopia.
I am not sure which my doctor is, but he is a good guy and honest. He stated my near sightedness is due to spending so much time on comp. I had 20-25 with a slight stigmatism now thanks to day trading I have 20-30. He says that I should focus on something far away every 15 minutes. Since I have a nice view I focus on things about 1 mile away. He also stated that I should have the monitor no more than arm's length away.
20/30 vision would give you a prescription of about -1.0 diopters. You probably need glasses to drive now especially at night. You should still be able to see your computer screen without glasses. I would make sure that you don't wear your glasses while you're on the computer otherwise your eyes will be forced to focus close up. The natural and best thing for your eyes is to be focused at a distance. You can simulate focusing at a distance for the computer screen by wearing a different prescription. A person with 20/20 vision can simulate distance vision for a computer screen by wearing reading glasses with a prescription of about +1.0. If you had worn reading glasses at the computer from the start when your eyes were still close to 20/20 perhaps they wouldn't have gotten worse. Your optometrist is certainly right about looking at something in the distance every 15 minutes. Maybe you could set up another computer screen or television far enough away that forces your eyes to focus far away. I'd disagree with your optmetrist about not having your monitor too far away, in fact I would keep it as far as possible or do whatever it takes to force your eyes to focus far away as much as possible. When my daughters were young, they were told by their teacher to read as much as possible, that it would be good for their minds. I told them, no, just read what is necessary for school, don't spend hours looking at a book, it'll ruin your eyes. When you have to read, make sure you look far away after every page or paragraph. My oldest daughter listened to me and her eyes are fine now at age 17. The younger daughter didn't listen to me, she would always sneak away to read a book for hours. The younger daughter now has myopia with a prescription of -1.25. The optometrist would tell her to wear her glasses all the time. I originally agreed and told her to stop losing your glasses and keep them on your face. Finally now after learning more about myopia I tell her no, just wear the glasses when you need them. I'll get you a bunch of discount glasses from Zenni optical for $8 each so if you lose them who cares, just grab another pair.
I have been wearing glasses since I began trading , and before, I started day trading because of my stigmatism which bothers me for reading and looking a the monitor. I can drive fine at night or anytime no problem. I have high quality progressive lenses. Funny thing my eyes don't bother me as much on CRT as LCD, go figure. I might try the single focus for day trading instead of the progressive I have now. I may even go back to CRT, I just bought LCD because it was supposed to be better.
Some might think that a discussion about glasses has no place on a trading forum. However I think next to losing all your money, this is one of the biggest hazards of the profession. I wanted to see if other traders suffer from the same vision problems and to strike up an intelligent discussion about some of the solutions.
Maybe you guys should have listened when they told you if you don't stop, you'll go blind???!!! Anecdotal evidence is wonderful but doesn't prove anything. My parents both read a lot as children, my mother needs thick glasses my father never needed them. Proves zippo, nada, maybe even less. Correlation does not equal causation, although I do believe the decline in the worldwide number of pirates is the cause of some of the increasing level of myopia in the world. How much I'm not sure though. The damn NSF refused to fund my study of the effects of worldwide maritime piracy on eyesight. bastards!