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5 signs you may need glasses
If words appear blurry as you read this on your phone or computer, you may need glasses.
If your eyes feel tired or ache, you may need spectacles. You also may need to cut back on your screen time.
If you’re getting headaches frequently, you should see your optometrist. You may need glasses, or it could be something else altogether.
Having trouble reading that text on your phone? Is it from your boss saying “You’re fired!” or is it from your would-be employer saying “You’re hired!”? You may need glasses to know the difference.
Here are 5 signs you may need glasses:
1. You’re having trouble reading
With age comes wisdom, but it also brings vision issues. It’s harder to read restaurant menus, texts from friends, email from family and recipes for mealtime.
If you have searched your smartphone settings to increase the size of the text or you are switching to audio or large-print books, you may need glasses.
Around age 40, presbyopia (or age-related long-sightedness) hits everyone. You may find yourself squinting to read a note or holding your phone at arm’s length to see a text more clearly.
Having difficulty reading is one of the surest signs you may need glasses.
If you’ve never needed vision correction before age 40, reading glasses may help you at least temporarily but in today’s world many people find them too restrictive. Progressive lenses, which help you to read text but also allow you to see in the distance and everything in between, may be a better long-term solution for your reading difficulties.
2. You (or your child) struggle to see at a distance
If your child is getting poor marks on in-class assignments but doing well on homework, or they're having trouble seeing what’s on the white board but have no problem reading what’s on homework sheets.
Your child may be myopic (short-sighted). Glasses can make it easy for your child to see the teacher and the board clearly again.
If you are having difficulty seeing at a distance — who is that walking toward you on the footpath or is that truck approaching you in the wrong lane? — you may need glasses.
3. Your night vision is getting worse
Driving at night is a challenge, but if lane markings are hard to see, street lamps have haloes and the oncoming headlights cause you to screw up your eyes against the glare, you may need glasses.
Good vision is vital to road safety, and glasses with an anti-reflection coating can stop the ghosting from those approaching headlights.
If you’re having trouble seeing your dashboard, single-vision or progressive lenses can help you see that little light signaling you are nearly out of petrol.
Progressive lenses (which help you to see clearly at distances near, far and in-between) may also help you to better see your dashboard, lane markings in front of you and road signs in the distance.
4. The details are fuzzy
Perhaps your vision troubles aren’t determined by distance: Objects look a little out of focus all the time at any distance.
If objects or words are blurry around the edges, you’re showing common a sign of astigmatism, which means it’s definitely time for glasses.
Astigmatism can cause headaches and tired eyes and can exist alone or along with long or short-sightedness.
5. Headaches and tired eyes
If you’re suffering daily headaches or your eyes are feeling tired and painful by the afternoon, you could be experiencing digital eye strain and that means you may need glasses.
The average Australian spends 10 hours or more a day in front of a laptop or computer screen. Computer glasses can be a big to help reduce headaches, tired eyes and other symptoms of digital eye strain.
When to see your optometrist
The list above is just a handful of signs you may need glasses. Regular eye tests will ensure you can see clearly when driving at night, when reading restaurant menus and even to distinguish if that text was from your boss or would-be employer.
If you’re experiencing frequent headaches or your vision is blurry, see your optometrist now. Sure, you may need glasses, but it could be something else causing your blurry vision and headaches.
IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING ANY OF THE ABOVE SIGNS YOU MAY NEED GLASSES: Find an optometrist near you and book an appointment for a comprehensive eye test.