Optical

As the season changes, whether you’re sipping pumpkin lattes or strolling through crunchy leaves, your eyewear should always be as stylish as it is functional. At Optical In Sight, we’re here to help you find the perfect eyewear that flatters your unique face shape and complements your autumn vibe.

The Perfect Frames for Every Face Shape

Choosing the perfect eyewear starts with understanding your face shape. Here’s a quick guide to help you identify your face shape:

• Round Faces – Your face has equal width and length with soft, curved lines.

• Square Faces – Your jawline is strong, and your face has roughly equal width and length.

• Oval Faces – Your face has balanced proportions with a slightly curved jawline.

• Heart-Shaped Faces – Your forehead and cheekbones are wider, and you have a narrow chin.

• Diamond Faces – Your cheekbones are prominent, with a narrow forehead and jawline.

• Triangle Faces – Your forehead is narrower, and your jawline is broader.

 Best Frames for Each Face Shape

No matter how lucky we are, the fact is, as we age, our eyesight will continue to change, for better or worse. Often, the changes are so incremental that we don’t even realise their impact. Some changes can be good, such as strengthening our eyesight during childhood. Still, other changes can be harmful, such as macular degeneration. Either way, we must learn to care for our eyes through every age, from birth to our senior years. Luckily, at Optical Insight, we’ve compiled a comprehensive guide to show you how to maintain healthy eyes at every stage of life.

How to take care of our babies’ eyes

Good optical hygiene for our newborns is essential to prevent the development of eye infections. Newborn babies naturally produce a lot of mucous fluid to maintain the moisture in their eyes. The mucin produced turns into what we know as sleep crust. When left alone, it can lead to eye infections and result in vision loss. For babies who sleep a lot, it’s crucial we clear off the eye gunk.

However, as newborn skin is so sensitive, we must take extra care when cleaning their faces.

 Tips for cleaning away the sleep under your babies’ eyes

• Before cleaning, it’s essential to wash your hands with a neutral soap to prevent infection.
• Cleaning should be carried out with a sterilised wet wipe or gauze. Never use your hand, cotton, cloth or paper and tissues.
• Never separate your babies’ eyelids when they are dry
• You can use a physiological serum or warm boiled water to wet your wipe or gauze and gently dab at the sleep crust until it’s moist and is easily removed. Never rub or scratch away the sleep.
• Clean from the tear duct to the outer corner of the eye, dragging the debris outwards.
• Clean twice daily: once in the morning when your baby has woken up and once after the nap.

When to worry:

If your baby’s eyes are persistently and abundantly secreting the mucin and they secretions appear green or yellow, or your baby’s eyes are swollen or red because of the secretion, it’s time to make an appointment with your paediatric ophthalmologist.

Developing good eyesight

Good eyesight is not something we are born with. As parents, there are some things we can do to encourage our baby to develop good eyesight. These include:

• Hanging a mobile above your baby’s crib
• Giving your baby toys to hold and visualise
• Placing toys within focus, approximately 20cm away, when playing
• Encouraging your baby to crawl around
• Talking to your baby as you move around the room to encourage their eyes to follow you

Keeping toddlers and children’s eyes healthy

Our vision develops over time. The first ten years of a person’s life are crucial in developing our eyesight and detecting any problems. When it comes to healthy eyes, early detection of any problems is key. As a result, it’s important to have their eyes checked by a professional regularly, every two years, from the time they turn three.

Additionally, when they are young, stimulating toys are particularly important in encouraging good eyesight and improving motor and hand-eye coordination. Some of these toys include building blocks, puzzles, peg boards, making beaded jewellery, drawing and painting tools and modelling clay, and a child-safe ball to play catch with. Make sure the toys are age-appropriate and free from sharp edges to prevent accidents and injuries.

It can be difficult to diagnose vision problems in children, as they tend not to be able to recognise and verbalise issues. After all, how can they understand that what is normal to them is, in fact, not normal? If you see your child doing any of the following, it’s time to get their eyes checked:

• Frequent disinterest in distant objects
• Squinting, especially when trying to focus
• Regular head tilting
• Holding objects very close to their eyes
• Frequent eye rubbing
• Sensitivity to light
• Poor hand-eye coordination

Common childhood vision problems to look out for:

• Farsightedness (hyperopia) – when close objects are blurry. Your child might present with difficulty reading.
• Nearsightedness (myopia) – Objects far away are blurry. Your child might find it hard to see the board at the front of the classroom if they sit in the back.
• Astigmatism – this can cause both near and far vision to be blurry.

Finally, we can’t stop our children and teens from having fun, but we can protect them. Eye injuries are the most common cause of blindness in children, especially in sports. More than 90 per cent of children’s eye injuries can be prevented with protective eyewear. They must wear proper protective goggles rather than glasses or sunglasses, as normal sunglasses or eye glasses can shatter on impact and cause even more eye damage.

Taking care of our vision in adulthood

Changes in your vision are inevitable. Even those who’ve enjoyed perfect vision throughout their lives will start to see changes around 40 years old. Taking good care of your eye health will reduce the impact of the changes, but it won’t eliminate them.

Between 40 and 60 years old, you might begin find it difficult to focus on things up close. If you find it difficult to read a book or focus on a screen, it’s time to invest in glasses. Once you turn 60, the changes start becoming more drastic. At this point, you must take extra steps to care for the health of your eyes. Those who are older than 60 are more prone to developing severe conditions such as glaucoma or macular degeneration. You must be aware of any changes in your vision and contact a specialist immediately. Early treatment can ward off many severe symptoms and repercussions of eye disease or allow you to avoid them entirely.

 Tips for good eye health at any age

Finally, no matter how old you are, here are some things you can do to maintain healthy eyes:

• Eat a balanced diet rich in vitamins A, C and E and omega-3 fatty acids
• Wear sunglasses that protect from UV when outside
• Limit the use of digital screens. Take frequent breaks and employ the 20-20-20 rule to limit digital eye strain.
• By being physically active and maintaining a healthy weight
• Maintain normal blood pressure
• Understand your family history

More often than not, people take their eyesight for granted. It’s not until their sight becomes noticeably fuzzy, blurred or worse that they begin to take the necessary steps to take care of their vision. Notice any changes in your eyes lately? Book an appointment with Optical Insight today.

If we embrace it, winter can be one of the best seasons of the year. Snow trips, hot springs, hot chocolate, warm soups, crackling fires and cuddling in front of the TV, what’s not to love? But, with the colder months come many pitfalls.

In winter, days are shorter and darker than the warmer months. Often, the lack of sunlight and the chill can lead to many of us being more irritable and developing seasonal depression. Moreover, with the cold comes skin-disorder flair-ups, colds and flu, that run amuck. Although many are aware of these downsides, a common shortcoming of winter that people may not be aware of is the damaging effect on your eyes.

How does winter damage our eyes?

1. Increased screen time
Colder and darker months always mean one thing: more time indoors. Unfortunately, in this modern world, there isn’t much to do indoors but stare at a screen. Whether you’re scrolling on the phone or binging a series, the increased screen time can cause your eyes to become tired and dry. Luckily, tired and overworked eyes, although uncomfortable, won’t lead to permanent damage.

Top tip:
Take regular breaks during periods of prolonged screen time. Don’t forget to use the 20:20:20 rule – every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break and focus on something 20 feet away.

2. Heating indoors
The winter chill can often feel unbearable, especially as we age. Many of us use a heating system to heat our homes to combat this. Unfortunately, the heat generated can remove any humidity and moisture in its direct environment, including our bodies. As a result, our skin and eyes are often drier during the winter. Dry eyes can often make it difficult to perform our everyday activities. More importantly, if left untreated, severe conditions of dryness can lead to inflammation, ulcers and vision loss.

Top tips:
– If you can’t lower the temperature, try using a humidifier or opening the windows for a couple of minutes to let moisture back into the room.
– Additionally, blinking can help lubricate our eyes, so remember to blink regularly! Finally, if all else fails, try using eye drops to help keep your eyes moist.
– Those who wear contacts should consider switching them out for glasses when they are in environments that are likely to cause dry eyes.
– Drinking more water can keep our eyes and bodies hydrated.

3. Harsh winds
Winter often comes with stronger and harsher dry winds full of debris. Not only can the debris flying around damage our eyes, but the winds can cause our eyes to be more watery than usual. Overly watery eyes can lead to reduced vision and pain.

Top tip:
– Switch out contact lenses for glasses; these will be more comfortable in the drying conditions and act as a protective barrier.
– Wear sunglasses to protect against the wind and any debris.

Read our guide on how to pick the best sunnies.

4. Winter sun
Many of us think that just because it’s gloomy and we can’t feel the warmth, the sun is much weaker in the winter months. However, the fact is that the sun is much stronger this time of year. All the rain, snow and ice covering the ground during winter provides more reflective surfaces for the sun’s UV rays to bounce off. As a result, we become exposed to UV rays from all angles during the winter, and we are at additional risk of long-term eye damage during the colder months.

Top tip:
Protect yourself from the UV by wearing UV protective sunnies during the winter.

Find out just why UV exposure is so dangerous through our previous post.

5. Longer nights
With longer nights or darker days, your pupils tend to be dilated longer to let in more light. Prolonged dilation of your pupils can make your vision blurrier in winter than in the summertime.

Top tips:
– Eat a healthy balanced diet full of fresh leafy veggies to keep your vision 20/20 this winter.
– Ensure the windscreen on your car is as clean as possible, as the glare of the low-lying sun can make it more difficult to see and make it more dangerous to drive during the winter.

Eye exercises to improve your eyesight during the winter
We must keep our eyes as strong as possible during wintertime. Prepare for the colder months by trying out these eye exercises to strengthen your eye muscles and improve your vision.

Exercise 1: Palming
To relax muscles around the eyes and reduce fatigue.

How to:
Rub your palms together to warm them up. Next, close your eyes, place each palm on either cheekbone and cup your fingers over your eyes. Breathe deeply for five minutes before removing your hands.

Exercise 2: Blinking
When you feel your eyes drying out, try this blinking exercise to stimulate the oil glands in your eyelids.

How to:
Close your eyes. While they are closed, consciously squeeze your eyelids together tightly and relax them five times. Open your eyes.

Exercise 3: Pencil push up
Train your eyes to move towards one another or converge when looking at a near object.

How to:
Hold a pen or pencil at arm’s length vertically and focus on the tip. Keeping your eyes focused on the pen, move it closer to your nose until you begin to see double. Then, move it away from your eyes again. Repeat three times.

Exercise 4: Near and far focus
To train your focusing system to engage and relax properly.

How to:
Hold your thumb 30cm from your face and focus on it for 15 seconds. Afterwards, shift your gaze to something 6m away and focus on it for 15 seconds. Alternate between looking at your thumb and the object several times.

Exercise 5: Figure 8s
To help train the eyes to track objects.

How to:
Pick a point on the floor 30cm away from you and trace an imaginary figure eight with your eyes. Continue for 30 seconds and switch directions.

With the colder months well and truly here, we must protect our eyes from the season’s pitfalls. So, follow our top tips and try our exercises to strengthen your eyesight.

Additionally, if you’re experiencing abnormal eyesight during the winter seasons or are finding it more challenging to see clearly during the colder months, make an appointment with Optical Insight and keep your eyes safe this winter.

Choosing sunglasses is more about looking good; it’s about protecting your eyes for years to come. To ensure that your sunglasses are more than just a fashion accessory, here’s what you need to look out for when choosing a pair.

UV Protection
When choosing sunnies, pick a pair that offers 100% UV protection from all UV light – including both UV A and UV B rays – for wavelengths up to 400NM (UV400). Sunnies that offer this protection will have this written on the label.

Moreover, if you’re uncertain about the level of protection your sunnies offer, take them in-store and have them checked with a UV light meter.

Polarisation
Although polarisation doesn’t protect your eyes from UV light, it will reduce the glare of any light reflecting off bright surfaces, such as water, snow and roads. This will ensure that your eyes remain comfortable when outside and aren’t strained.

Some polarised lenses do filter out UV. So, for maximum protection, you can also opt for these.

Lens colour
Despite what people think, lens colour doesn’t play much of a role in protecting our eyes. Darker or mirrored lenses may not offer the same level of protection as light lenses with 100% UV protection. After all, the level of protection depends on the ability to protect against UV rays, not the colour of the lens.

However, for those with a chronic eye condition – such as diabetic retinopathy or macular degeneration – amber or brown-coloured lenses can help you see better.

Size and fit
In general, when it comes to the level of protection sunnies offer, bigger is better. Research has found that indirect exposure to sunlight – such as from above or peripherally – can damage our eyes. So pick one that offers more coverage.

Additionally, choose a pair of sunglasses that fit comfortably on your head. The frames shouldn’t feel too tight, but shouldn’t be so loose that they slip and fall off when you look down.

Although they may not always be in style, for maximum protection, choose oversized or wraparound sunnies.

Style
Sunglasses are the fashion accessory you should be wearing all year round. Often, a good pair – one that offers the necessary protection – can be a small investment. So, you need to make sure you love the way you look in them. Regardless of price, there’s no point in choosing a good pair of sunglasses if you never wear them.

Don’t forget the kids
Research has found that exposure to UV radiation, and damage, adds up over a person’s lifetime. But, more importantly, 80% of the damage caused by UV exposure occurs before the age of 18. So, when shopping for sunnies, don’t forget the kids. You can find sunnies to protect your child’s eyes from the time they are six months old.

Now that we’ve armed you with all the information you need about sunnies, head in-store to check out our fantastic range to keep your eyes protected all year round. Alternatively, if it’s been a while since your last eye check, make an appointment today, and we’ll get you sorted.

Looking for more information? Read our post on why sunglasses are important for our eye health.