A Small Investment Could Save You a Big Headache

Vision
alice in wonderland

You’re getting older. So am I. (I’m actually turning 50 later this year. I can hardly believe it!)

As you get older, things change. You change. And yet, you often keep things around you the same. This can be a problem.

As a kid, I loved the story of Alice in Wonderland. In the story Alice finds a cake that says, “eat me”. Like any normal kid, she of course eats the cake. A little bite at first. And nothing happens. Then she decides to eat the whole piece. All of a sudden, she grows really big and the room stays the same size. Her head hits the ceiling with a bang! That would give anyone a headache.

As you’ve been changing—if your immediate physical world around you hasn’t (just like in the story of Alice)—you may be giving yourself a headache without even realizing it. And I’m sure you don’t want that.

One of the things that has been changing with me—starting when I was around 40—is my eyes.

At first, it was annoying that I couldn’t read the tiny print on the back of the medicine bottle. Then it was hard to read the menus in those dimly lit restaurants. But thank goodness for the flashlight app on the smartphone!

Then I noticed I had to hold my book just a little further away to be comfortable reading—no matter the lighting. Now I have to have glasses on to be able to read my book at all. And I also need them for reading other things—like the computer screen.

If you’re starting to need glasses for the computer, you’re changing. And if you’re wearing bifocals or trifocals while working at your computer, you’ll definitely need to adjust your environment.

As you sit in front of your computer screen ask yourself which part of your glasses you look out of.

The normal ergonomic advice is to have the top of your computer monitor at the level of your eyes—so that you have to look down a bit to see the middle part of the screen. But if you’re wearing bifocals or trifocals and looking through the lower part of your glasses to see the screen, it’ll probably need to be lowered from the above advice.

If you don’t lower the screen, what happens is that without thinking, in order to see the top half of the screen, you’ll tend to rotate your head back and down, raising your chin so that you can look through the bottom part of the lens. This puts tremendous compression on the back of your neck and the rest of your spine. And can often be the direct cause of neck pain and headaches.

So, adjust your monitor instead of compressing the back of your neck. Or alternatively, invest in some computer glasses.

Computer glasses are single-lens glasses with a focal length designed for computer work. This will eliminate the need to look through the bottom portion of the lens.

Of all the things I’ve spent money on in the last few years, this was one of my best investments. Worth every penny!

P.S. Check out this video for ergonomic tips on computer monitor placement with bifocals or trifocals.

 

Image by Sly from Pixabay 

4 comments… add one

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  • Bickey Bender May 7, 2019, 11:47 am

    Thank you for this article. Glasses do make a difference
    even when playing the piano!
    The other item that goes is hearing! Hearing aids are not the greatest invention but they do help .
    Bickey

    Reply
    • Lauren Hill May 7, 2019, 4:27 pm

      You’re welcome.

      Reply
  • Susan Cohen May 9, 2019, 8:27 pm

    Wait another 10 years and it might get better. Once I got my cataracts taken care of my vision improved drastically..
    I have the multi- focal lenses and they’re great.

    Reply
    • Lauren Hill May 10, 2019, 10:44 am

      Thanks for your comment Susan.

      Reply

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