Lifestyle & Lenses

Your Eyes & the Computer

Working on Visual Display Units (VDU's) places greater visual demands on the eyes than traditional office work. People tend to work for long periods without breaks and the two eye muscle groups that help you focus and direct the eyes onto the screen become tired. The results can be symptoms such as headaches, blurred vision, problems changing focus, itching and burning eyes. These are some typical symptoms of eye strain common to all VDU users. Your eye care professional will be able to advise you on the best solution for these problems.

The best way to combat eye strain and fatigue is to ensure that you have your eyes tested regularly, rest your eyes frequently by focusing on objects around the room at different distances and out the window if possible, and if you read or use a computer for more than three hours a day we recommend the use of anti-fatigue lenses.

Your Eyes & Driving

Good vision is fundamental for safe driving. On sunny days, you need good sunglass lenses to avoid blinking or squinting. Polarised sun lenses are recommended as they reduce surface reflection and glare.

Night driving is especially demanding due to ghost images and reflection. Crizal lenses greatly reduce these ghost images and eye fatigue. Driving safely also requires good vision at all distances. If you are presbyopic, Varilux progressive lenses will enable you to see at all distances, from your road map to signs far away.

Protection for Children

We all want our children to have good quality and safe lenses which will withstand their daily activities, games, and quiet moments. Polycarbonate, and to some extent plastic lenses, are the safest option as glass lenses can break and injure your child. A good scratch resistant coating on both sides of the lens prevents damage during daily usage.

To protect our eyes from UVA and UVB rays during long exposure to the sun, doctors recommend we wear wide-brimmed hats and glasses that block ultraviolet rays. Children are more sensitive because their eyes' lenses are still very clear and do not block UV as well as an adult's eyes.

When outdoors, UVB exposure can be reduced by more then 50% by wearing regular glasses or sunglasses, and by more then 85% by wearing both a hat and glasses. Most of Essilor's lens materials will give you 100% protection from UV light.

Your eyes and Sport

Whether it's for fun or for competition, sports now play a large part in our lives. While practising sports, approximately 80% of the information we receive from our senses come from our eyes. Further more, quick reaction sports require almost perfect vision.

For outdoor sports, sports-specific sunglasses are becoming increasingly popular, not only because sports enthusiasts realise the benefits of being able to see clearly on sunny days but also because of the protection that the lenses provide against the harmful effects of the sun. With Essilor's range of Sports Solutions lenses you can now utilise different coloured sun lenses which are designed specifically for the visual requirements of popular sports.

The rural lifestyle

Over 50% of injuries to the eye on the farm are from routine maintenance tasks, such as mending fence wire, hammering, and dealing with livestock Life on the farm can present a number of hazards to your eye health. Ensuring you have eye protection can help prevent eye injuries. Safety glasses will provide you with reasonable frontal protection against flying particles. Prescription spectacles are impact resistant, however safety glasses with lenses and frames meeting lens standards offer greater protection. These are great in the milking sheds, or for shearing.

The sun New Zealand is very harsh, so UV protection is a must for all outdoorsmen. Whether you are on the farm or out fishing, a good pair of polarised sunglasses will protect against harmful UV rays. Tinted lenses - Yellow or orange tinted lenses can increase contrast and are great for hunting during the day or in the evening.

The 'in-and-out of the office' lifestyle

If you have a busy corporate lifestyle and often find yourself dashing in and out of the office to meetings, adaptive lenses will help make those inside-to-outside switches easy. Transitions lenses adapt to the light in your environment, changing their colour to the level which will provide you with the most comfortable viewing experience. Transitions lenses provide ultimate convenience and remove the hassle of carrying both your eyeglasses and your sunglasses all of the time.