Prescription Glasses vs Pinhole Glasses- The Toss Up

I thought I’d just make a quick post on the comparison between prescription glasses and pinhole glasses. So here goes...

People wear prescription glasses to either help them see better or as a corrective measure. Many people end up wearing these for the rest of their lives or switching to contact lens. In this post I will pay specific attention to the limitations of prescription glasses then go on to explore the possibility of using pinhole glasses and prescribed eye exercises to restore one's sight.

The Limitations of Prescription Glasses

There are certain common practices that can be observed among people who wear prescription glasses. These include the tendency to remove their glasses for a moment to widen, open and close, roll and rub at their eyes. The common cause for that is the strain and hurting sensation that comes along with the wearing of prescription glasses. This can eventually lead to deterioration in one's eyesight because what the eye really needs is some relaxation and something to help restore it to its natural health. Here are a few pointers on the limitation of prescription glasses. 

1. Prescription glasses are made with artificial lenses that can improve your sight, but this is temporary. They target the symptoms of the eye problem, and therefore do not fix it. Patients may have to go to ophthalmologist to have their prescription glasses changed or upgraded. 

2. People who wear prescription glasses may find that they develop a "frozen stare". This comes as a direct result of them trying to focus so hard on the object of their attention that overtime the strain on the muscles causes them to develop that steady stare. This is actually a bad it a habit to develop, but one that is promoted by the wearing of artificial lenses. The eye just does not get the opportunity to function properly. The strain on the muscles of the eye encourages ‘frozen stare, which if you stop think about it was the source of the problem in the first place. 

3. Patients may become dependent on prescription glasses, and therefore the eyes never get the chance to heal.

4. Our eyes do not remain constant because our sight is influenced by factors such as our mood, mental stress and the weather.  This means they are constantly changing and therefore makes it difficult for a doctor to actually come up with the right prescription.  

                                                                  Flickr Photo             

Do Pinhole Glasses Really Cut It?

Let me start off by saying that in a previous post I mentioned that I had not seen a pinhole glasses that I would consider stylish. Well that has changed. I'll re-share a video at the end of this blog. I think those actually look cool, so now I can say that style wise I can find one that "cuts it". I like the color as well. OK... Now on with the business...

 Pinhole glasses are also known as stenopeic glasses, and have perforated plastic lenses that are set into either plastic or metal frames. The science of how the glasses work lies in those holes. A simple technology no doubt, but the intent of it makes perfect sense to me. I recently had my eyes tested and was basically told I only need to wear sun shades to protect my eyes from the sun, but my vision was great. Now even those of us who have perfect vision know what it feels like to have a eye strain or having to shield the eye or squint to gain a better focus sometimes. Now just imagine someone with defective eyesight having to go through that on a constant basis. 

Squinting to Help Our Eyes See

In a recent post, I took the time to look at how light rays from our peripheral vision can interfere with our vision. Squinting is a reflex action where the eye lids move to shutter the eye and block out the distracting light rays. The healthy eye is able to simply and quickly focus on the object of your attention by picking up only the light rays coming from it. It's a very quick procedure - you look - the image registers on the retina and is sent off to the brain in a flash where the brain identifies the object and sends a message telling the body how to react. An individual with defective eyesight is going to react slower because the image sent by the retina is unclear and it will have to spend a little time deciphering what the eye has seen. Sometimes the process is so slow it causes confusion. Trust me - I have felt that confusion many times, and the eye keeps going back to the object trying to adjust it and send different versions of the image off to the brain so it can put the pieces together. 

Courtesy of Photobucket

Your eye is actually working like a camera snapping away taking one picture after another. Notice that sometimes the camera gets some excellent shots, but there are those that are going to come out blurry and you can tell the camera was not focused before it snapped. Sometimes there's just too much light and the object is basically lost a shot. 

Pinhole glasses help people with defective vision gain a clearer vision of the things around them as it filters the light rays and only allow those that are directly associated with an object (or scene) to pass on through to the eye. They remove the tendency to strain or the need to shutter the eye and block out distracting light rays. Prescription glasses pass on all the light rays so the individual still has to strain and make an effort to focus. The results - "frozen stare". 

My research on the wearing of pinhole glasses as a corrective measure indicates that you only need to wear it for 15 to 20 minutes per day to realize significant improvements. This is greatly enhanced when the patient incorporates some prescribed eye exercises. Both methods combined offers a far more cheaper alternative to prescription glasses. 

Take Away Points  

•  Pinhole glasses help to strengthen the ciliary muscles as it filters the light that enters the eye. This allows the muscles to pull the lens into the required shaped that bend the light rays so that the image falls on the retina. The eye is able quickly adapt to the environment so there's no need to strain.

• Our vision is influenced by factors such as our health, our mood, the weather, outdoor stress factors and other distractions. This makes it challenging ophthalmologists to give accurate prescriptions.

• We naturally make attempts to help our eyes adjust to various situations. We can also help them heal without prescription glasses. The combination of wearing pinhole glasses and doing prescribed natural eye exercises can help us achieve that. 

• Eye exercises teach our eyes to relax by making use of our everyday eye movement habits. Once the eye masters these techniques it will no longer need the assistance of any glasses to perform its tasks. The eye exercises target the underlying problem and therefore have to be prescribed. It’s not just about doing every and any eye exercise. 

• We all suffer from eye strain from time to time. It is unavoidable, but we can learn new habits that will help to ease the strain. Eye disorders are mainly caused by mental stress and eye strain.