How to avoid discomfort when wearing glasses

How to avoid discomfort when wearing glasses

As an Optician I’m often asked if eyeglasses and other eyewear can give you a headache? The short answer to this question is – yes! There are a couple of situations in which your eyeglasses can cause you headaches and discomfort; for example, if they are poorly adjusted or if the prescription needs to be renewed, headaches are often a common issue.

Your eyeglasses work to correct your vision by changing the way light enters your eye, or more accurately how light is refracted through your eye to focus on the retina at the back of the ocular structure. This focused light creates an image of what you’re viewing and, if done correctly, that created image is a perfect representation as the eyeglasses are hopefully correcting for any imperfections or abnormalities in the visual structure. If the prescription is incorrect, if the eyeglasses are made incorrectly, if the lenses are out of alignment, or if the prescription is out of date the image may not be the perfect representation you want it to be and this imperfection can cause discomfort. Beyond this, a prescription that is too weak or too strong can also create a feeling of vertigo or dizziness and this can also be a challenge in your everyday functioning.

As alluded to earlier, a poorly adjusted pair of eyeglasses can also cause pain and discomfort beyond issues from misaligned optical lenses. The structure of the face moves as you talk and chew and a proper adjustment needs to take this into account. All too often adjustments to eyeglasses occur in a static situation or are sometimes self-adjusted from a perspective of frustration. In these instances the most common issue are glasses that are adjusted far too tightly to the head with no ‘room’ for movement. As you go about your regular activities this creates a repetitive stress situation as the glasses are pulled over and over again, against the back of the ears. Once or twice, this would be a minor inconvenience; however, when this occurs constantly for several hours, it creates an ache that can easily build into pain. The best way to avoid this discomfort or this situation in general is to have a Licensed Optician adjust your eyeglasses and to schedule regular maintenance visits so the eyeglasses can be corrected as they move out of adjustment over time. As an Optician I normally request that my patients return for follow-up adjustments every three to four months so I can catch issues before they become a problem for the patient, obviously sooner if they are experiencing issues or the eyeglasses suffer a trauma of some sort.

In conclusion, your eyeglasses need to be comfortable to promote wear. All too often discomfort is provided as a reason for not wearing eyeglasses, especially with children who are growing and changing; however, vision is important and eyeglasses allow you to see. Allow your Optician to correct any issues and create a maintenance schedule that works for you. Book an appointment and speak to your Licensed Optician about your needs today.