Hi, welcome to Clear Vision, Clearer Future!

We are a community trying to help the teenagers in Australia to prevent and slow down their myopia (short-sighted) problem due to prolonged digital gaze.

First of all, how much do you know about this social problem? Here are some facts that you need to know:

1. Three in twenty of Australian have short-sighted problem, which the number is still growing

2. The population of Australian teenagers with near-sighted had doubled the amount since year 2000

3. Myopia usually starts to develop at the age from 13 to 19 because their eyes are still developing

4. One of the major reasons lead to short-sighted is the excessive use of digital devices

5. Teenagers spend more time for outdoor activities can help to slow down the problem

Result of the Survey _ Myopia and outdoor activities

This week we created and uploaded a short survey in order to figure out how much our followers know about their myopia problem. Here is the result:

More than 90% of respondents are short-sighted

More than 70% of them first found they are short-sighted between the age of 13-19 (The reason why we are targeting this age group in our campaign)

More than 50% of respondents think the reason of their myopia was affected by digital devices use

According to the respondents the best way to prevent and slow down the problem including: 1) education; 2)Rest your eyes regularly; 3)Get regular optom checks; 4)Less use of digital devices; 5) wearing the right prescription and adjusting your screen to appropriate standard; 6) Spend time doing things other than interacting with digital devices...

The result above shows that most of individuals didn't realise that doing more outdoor activities can actually a very simple way to deal with the problem. It is not only good for your eyes but also good for other parts of your body.

So let's see what might be gained from the outdoor activities according to Myopia Prevention and Control:

Sun exposure with Vitamin D production (Vitamin D is produced by the skin with the aid of sunlight.)

Exposure to bright light releases chemicals in the retina such as dopamine that can control growth

Exposure to visual opportunities for far distance vision

Exposure to beneficial microorganisms

Unknown events that may be caused by being outdoors or that often happen to people who spend time outdoors.

Furthermore, minors who spent more time outside were 23 percent less likely to develop nearsightedness (Doyle, 2015)!!!

Also, there is nearly no side effect for the this 'treatment'. Probably you will worry a sun burn, however, in here we are not encouraging a long time exposure to the UV light. Just try to balance your time spend indoor and outdoor. Apply the right sunscreen lotion 30 mins before you go out and wear a sunglasses, you will be fine~

References

'More time outside tied to less nearsighted ness in children' http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/15/us-health-children-myopia-sunlight-idUSKCN0RF21X20150915

'Treatments: Outdoor Time' http://www.myopiaprevention.org/outdoor_time.html#.Ve0egfi_GE4.facebook

Be careful of your behaviours, you kids are watching

Hey dads and mums, do you know your children next to you are actually watching and copying your behaviours all the time?

According to Wiese and Freund (2011), parents' behaviour in daily could have huge impact on their children especially for those aged 13 to 19. This situation is also applicable to explain on of the reason lead to teenagers' myopia problem. A research done by The Vision Council (2015) shows that more than 90% of adults spend over two hours on using electronic tablets, with more than 60 percent of them spending more than 4 hours on electronic devices everyday. This result clearly reveals that the parents did not behave as role model in terms of time spend on the use of digital devices, which may mislead their children to the wrong using habit.

Some of the parents are watching TV when they asking their children do not watch too many videos on YouTube; many parents use computer for very long time everyday for work, on the other hand complain their children for using computer but not talking to them; there are also dads and mums blaming their teenagers use too much Facebook but these parents are actually texting on their phone all the time.

Think about it, you might be one of them.

Here are some advices for parents:

Pay attention to your own behaviour all the time. If you do not want your children use too much digital devices, you should do the same.

Try to act as a role model to your teenagers. Avoid prolonged digital gaze and decrease the time spend on digital devices.

Take your children out for outdoor activities often. According to our previous post, outdoor activities are not only good for eyes but also other parts of body. It may also help to improve your relationship between your teenage boys and girls.

If you have to use digital devices for work for many hours, tell your children that this is bad for eyes and they should not do the same at the first place.

Reference

The Vision Council 2015b, ‘Digital Eye Strain Report 2015’ http://www.thevisioncouncil.org/digital-eye-strain-report-2015

Wiese, BS and Freund, AM 2011, ‘Parents as Role Model: Parental Behaviour Affects Adolescents’ Plans for Work involvement’, International Journal of Behavioural Development, vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 218-224, access 26 August 2015 from UNSW database

How can parents help?

In terms of protecting the teenager's eyes from getting the myopia problem, parents are playing an extremely important role. Teenagers themselves most of the time can not correctly estimate the severity of the problem happening in their body which they need their parents' help to keep them on track.

However, when we think back to the past decades that the parents now were still at their age of 13-19, the factors that may result in myopia were fewer. For example, students at that time had less stress and less competition among each other; even their parents got fewer chances to use electronic tablets. Most importantly, the relatively laggard technologies at that time were unable to make individuals stick  with them but allowed people to spend more time on outdoor activities. These differences may also lead to the parents nowadays feel confused when they are facing their kids' myopia problem.

Some parents may say, 'I do care about my children, but it is very difficult for me to know whether my children is getting shortsightedness or not'. So today, we are here to help. We will provide some guide below for parents to follow, either for early prevention of myopia or control it.

First of all, your teenagers or your kids themselves are the ones who suffering, and therefore you should help them help them self check first. According to Teen Health(2014), you can ask the following questions or observe them in the following ways:

1. Ask them 'Do you have any difficulty reading the blackboard at school'?

2. See if them screwing up eyes to see distant objects

3. Observe if they have poor posture while reading ( This can be a omen of myopia)

4. Ask and see if they have difficulty playing ball games.

For a more detail instruction about telling how can parent help, we found these parents a guide from Optometry Australia(2015):

For some of our followers, you probably will say I am not a parents at the moment so i don't need these messages,

however, for prevention of problems, we should always think about it before head.

Another bonus in this post, UNSW Optometry Clinic provides free eye examinations during teaching period, for more information, please visit the link here http://www.optometry.unsw.edu.au/clinic/unsw-optometry-clinic

Reference

Teen Health(2014), 'Vision - short sightedness (myopia)', http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=243&id=2378&np=292#2

Optometry Australia (2015), http://www.optometry.org.au/media/517052/how_parents_can_help.pdf

Teens/Kids also need to wear sunglasses!Nowadays, we are seeing more cool kids on the street wearing sunglasses. However, we believe that many parents actually have some questions in their mind about their kids wearing sunglasses. Does my kid really need to sunglasses? Will wearing sunglasses damage my kid's eyes? If sunglasses are needed, how should i choose the right sunglasses for my kids? In this post, we will answer these questions one by one.

Firstly, the answer for whether kids need to wear sunglasses is definitely YES.  According to the Dr Jones from ABC Health and Wellbeing, he answer that 'the earlier children wear sunglasses the better they're protected from eye conditions in later life'. It is also believed that without the protection of sunglasses from the sun, individual of all age groups are easier to get vision impairment. For teenagers, because their eyes are still growing, it can have even worse result in the future.

For the second question, wearing sunglasses usually won't damage your kids' eyes, however, it is important to choose the right pairs. It means that if you didn't choose it carefully, there still a chance the sunglasses damage your kids' vision.

Now, we are going to give the parents some tips of choosing the right sunglasses for their teens.

Pick the frames suits your teens' face and match their personal style (at least you need to make them willing to wear)

Wrap-around shades can be a great choice to block light from all sides (but maybe not available for all prescriptions)

For the material of the lenses, polycarbonate lenses are usually best for teens

Ensure the pair you choose have standard UV 400 lenses or 100% UV protection

For the colour of the lenses, common choices include gray, brown and green

For active teens

The lenses have to be even more impact resistant and the frames might have to be of a different style

If no vision correction needed, frames with interchangeable lenses might be a great choice.

Also, there are teens who don't like to wear sunglasses, a broad brimmed hat that provides some shade for the eyes can also help.

Reference

EyeDoctorGuide.com 2015, 'Choosing Sunglasses for Teens'

http://www.eyedoctorguide.com/sun_glasses/choosing_sunglasses_teens_teenagers.html

Jones, M 2012, 'Do kids need to wear sunglasses', in ABC Health and Wellbeing, http://www.abc.net.au/health/talkinghealth/factbuster/stories/2012/03/27/3459094.htm

Inconvenience situation you might experience if you become short-sighted

It is believed that most of the teenagers didn't pay enough attention to their health problem, especially their eyes. The Vision Council (2015) proposed that teenagers are sometimes unable to correctly assess the consequences of their health problems but always believe that they will stay healthy. They care more about the how to satisfy their current interests, but ignore the long-term benefit. For example, they would prefer play computer games for 5 hours because they want to 'level-up' now, instead of do more exercises outside which will be beneficial to their body all the time.

Today, we want to raise these teenagers awareness by showing the inconvenience situation they might experience if they become short-sighted. (The list below is provided by those individuals who are shorted-sighted now and very regret of didn't protect their eyes at younger age, like blogger myself)

1. Find the glasses is the fist thing to do everyday we get up, or we are unable to do anything.

2. if we accidentally step on our glasses, we may feel like we are 'blind' during the days waiting for our new glasses.

3. if we wear contact lenses everyday, our eyes are very easy to get tired.

4. If we wear contact lenses for too long (sometimes we have to), it may raise other eye problems.

5. The steam will come to our glasses when we are drinking hot soup or eating hot food. This will make us can't see anything (it's very embarrass sometimes)

6. Always worry about the glasses will fall off when doing exercises.

7. Sometimes unable to recognise your friends without a glasses even he or she just next to you.

8. Need to wear two glasses when you want to watch a 3D movie.

9. Wearing a glasses will be very inconvenient if you suddenly want to kiss your boyfriend or girlfriend.

10. .........to be continued

Believe us, you will be very regret once you become a short-sighted. Please be aware of your eyes' health. :)

Reference

The Vision Council 2015, ‘Teens’, The vision council, accessed 28 August 2015, <http://www.thevisioncouncil.org/teens >

Tips to minimize the effect of computer/laptop to your eyes ( Part 1_ setup and position)

We understand that nowadays, there's no way for teenagers to just not using any digital devices. Other than smartphones, computers/laptops are the other most common devices teenagers are using, either for study or games. We totally understand that. Although we encourage teenagers to reduce the time spend on digital devices, we still care about their eyesight if they have to use.  Today, we will provide some tips to help you minimize the effect of the use of computer to your eyes.

Firstly, before you start using any devices, setup and position it well.

Place the monitor right in front of you to reduce any twisting of your neck and shoulders

Sit at least an arm's length away from the monitor

Position the top of your screen level with your eyes, which will make the text easy to read without hurting of your neck

Balance the brightness of your monitor and your room light. Avoid using computers if it's at night and too dark in the room.

You can also adjust the color temperature.                           (Reason? -- 'Blue light is short-wavelength visible light that

is associated with more eye strain than longer wavelength hues, such as orange and red. Reducing the color temperature of your display lowers the amount of blue light emitted by a color display for better long-term viewing comfort')

keep the screen clean. Remove any accumulated dust or fingerprint can make you eyes feel better and easy to read.

If above doesn't have, it will be also useful to check whether you need a new display.  Some of the old computers were not clear enough, which can also hurt your eyes.

References

'Monitor setup and usage', http://www.healthycomputing.com/office/setup/monitor/

'Computer Eye Strain: 10 Steps for Relief', http://www.allaboutvision.com/cvs/irritated.htm

Tips to minimize the effect of computer/laptop to your eyes (Part 2)

According to Vision Source (2014), although computer eye strain does not cause permanent eye damage, it does result in eyesight problem more easily, including myopia. Some teenagers may say I don't have the problem now, however, it can become a problem if they do not care about it at all. So,  teenagers, parents and even future parents, pay attention here!

The video is only 3 mins long, some of the tips are also suitable for the use of other digital devices.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT1N1Pwc50w

Other than that, we also have some more suggestions Remember to blink frequently.

Do some eye massage (can look back to our previous post)

Minimize Glare

Go out for more outdoor activities (you can get vitamin D from the sun

References

Vision Source 2014, '11 Tips for eliminating computer eye strain', http://visionsource.com/blog/tips-for-eliminating-computer-eye-strain/

All you need to know about contact lenses

Some short-sighted followers told us that although they want to do more outdoor exercises, wearing a glasses is just so inconvenience. In this way, wearing contact lenses would be the best choice! However, many parents are not sure whether teens can wear contact lenses or not. Today, we will answer your questions and teach you how to get the perfect contact lenses for your teens.

According to All About Vision.com (2015), there is no age limit to wear contact lenses, even very young kids can wear. However, many experts nowadays encourage teens to start to wear contact lenses at the age of 11 to 14. In some situation, contact lenses may be even safer than glasses because it usually won't be damage by sports and more convenient.

So if i want to get my teens some contact lenses, what should I do?

Firstly,  you should observe whether your teens or kids ready for contact lenses or not.

Questions you can ask yourself are how's your kids' general hygienic practices? does he or she wash hands often? how your child handles other responsibilities.

Teens are more encouraged to wear daily disposal contact lenses because they don't need a cleaning regimen and easy to take care.

Prescription is needed for contact lenses

Most contact lenses are comfortable, however, it can become uncomfortable over time if your teens wear it for too long.

Always remember to blink when your teens are wearing contact lenses.

Contact lenses are mostly safe, however, always consult your doctor first.

Do NOT wear the others contact lenses AT ALL!! it can cause SERIOUS eye infections

Do not wear contact lenses for too long in one day, around 8 hours would be the best.

Avoid wearing soft contact lenses even when your teens want to take a nap.

References

All About Vision.com 2015, 'Teens and contact lenses: What parents need to know', http://www.allaboutvision.com/contact-lenses-teens/

Bluthman, JG 2015, 'Is your child or teen ready for contact lenses?', http://www.metroparent.com/metro-parent-magazine/m-advertising-sections/child-teen-ready-contact-lenses/#comment-on-post

Heiting, G 2014, 'Are contact lenses a good choice for kids?' http://www.allaboutvision.com/parents/contacts.htm

What do you know about computer glasses?

We will give you a brief introduction about the computer glasses and provide information about how it works to prevent Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) from happening in this post. If you use computer/laptop a lot, a pair of computer glasses will be your best choice.

So, how does it look like?

      

Why computer classes?

Computers are usually positioned in the intermediate zone of vision (20 to 26 inches from the user's eyes). The length is closer than driving ("distance") vision, but farther away than reading ("near") vision, which the function of computer glasses, reading glasses and normal glasses are differentiated by this zone of vision (All About the Vision.com 2014).

The computer glasses put the optimum lens power for viewing your computer screen right where you need it for a clear, wide field of view, which avoid excessive focusing effort or unhealthful postures.

Sounds complicated? it basically

reduces glare which is a major cause of eyestrain

increase contrast (color)

Maximise what you see through the lenses

How it works?

Two main features (Pinalo 2013)

Anti-reflective (AR) coating - eliminate reflections of light resource (Anti-reflective coating can be different regarding different pair of computer glasses)

Color tints - usually yellow tint to increase the contrast of 'blue-light' emitted from the screen

What should consider before i get one?

Before you buy one,

an accurate and up to date eyeglasses prescription is essential in order to get the full benefit from your computer glasses.

measure how far you usually sit away from the computer (All About the Vision.com 2014).

Finally, although at the moment, CVS is mostly affecting the office worker, it can have more serious impact on teenagers once it happen due to their eyes are still growing. Therefore, for parents and teenagers themselves, it is better to have more prepared before vision problem like myopia really happen. Also, although wearing computer glasses will comfort our eyes, it is still better for individuals to spend less time in front of computers.

References

All About the Vision.com 2014, 'Computer Glasses: Relieving Computer Eye Strain', http://www.allaboutvision.com/cvs/computer_glasses.htm

Pinalo, M 2013, 'Do Computer glasses really work?' http://lifehacker.com/5980509/do-computer-glasses-really-work