EYES on MYTHS!

Always here to get to the crux of all things eyes, this week we thought we’d bust a few myths about eyes and eyesight. 

We suspect you’ll recognise many of them from what you were told by older relatives and we’re not here to judge if you’re ‘using’ them to get your kids to do what you want.  However, in the interest of the truth…

Reading in poor light will damage your eyes.

No, it won’t!

It may well tire your eyes, but it won’t cause actual damage.  Think back to when people were reading by candlelight or oil lamp in homes without electricity.  This didn’t damage their eyes – in the same way, you can’t damage a camera by taking photos in poor light.  You might just need to keep the camera shutter open longer to get the light to the lens – your eyes work the same way.

Too much screen time will damage your eyes.

The act of looking at your screen/phone/gaming device for too long will not physically damage your eyes.  However, it can cause eyestrain, headaches and dry eyes as well as making it harder to get to sleep. 

Staring at screens generally reduces the number of times that you blink and tires your eye muscles so giving yourself a break to look into the distance, relax and refocus can really help. 

All the lenses we supply at EYES on St Albans come with a blue light filter which helps reduce the amount of strain screens put on your eyes and we’d always encourage you to minimise the blue light on your phone – especially in the evening.

Dry eyes can be relieved with eye drops and warm compresses – both of which are available in the shop, and we’ll be happy to advise you on what would work for you.

Eating carrots will help you see in the dark.

This old favourite!  There are elements of truth to this statement which originated in World War II propaganda.  To distract the German high command from the fact that the RAF were using radar to intercept bombers on night raids, press releases were sent out saying that the British pilots had been eating lots of carrots to improve their night vision.  Not only did the German’s believe this – much of the UK population did too and hence the story.

The element of truth though is that carrots (and plenty of other veg) contain retinol (Vitamin A) which helps keep your eyes healthy and helps you see in low light.   Vitamin A deficiency can cause night blindness so in this case, carrots will help improve your ability to see in the dark – but only to a normal, healthy level.

If your vision hasn’t changed, you don’t need an eye examination.

Definitely not true!  Your EYES examination tests for things that you could never know were going on in your eyes – including Glaucoma, changes due to diabetes and macular degeneration.   There are other issues that can occur in the body that we can identify through the retinal photography and other examinations that we carry out including high blood pressure, connective tissue disorders and brain tumours. 

Our appointment slots are an hour long, so you’ll get a thorough examination, a chance to ask any questions and we’ll let you know when you’ll need to come back for a retest.  

To book an appointment (and let us bust any other myths you may think you know) – pop into the shop or call us on 01727 838003.