Jason Randall Smith, OD,MS

Glasses should NEVER cause headaches. Glasses are prescribed in order to relieve a visual disorder such as myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, or presbyopia. Glasses should "calm down" the problem, not create a new problem. If you have been prescribed glasses, and something is not right, I would suggest that you check back with your eye doctor in order to determine if the prescription is accurate or if there is another reason that you are getting headaches. Good luck and best wishes.

In almost all cases, you have to be 18 years of age. LASIK is good for people over 18, who are in good eye and general health, don't have thin corneas, and who have had stable prescriptions for at least one year. Your general health is part of your LASIK eligibility. You need to have your corneas checked by having pachymetry done before any eye surgeon would consider any type of refractive surgery. A refractive surgeon can answer all of your questions and determine if your daughter is a candidate for Lasik. Good luck and best wishes.

Avoid rubbing your eyes. Avoid eye makeup. Only use eyedrops prescribed by your eye doctor, always. Avoid alcohol consumption for 48 hours after surgery. Avoid physical activities and sports which might cause eye injury. Wear UV protective sunglasses with polycarbonate/safety lenses. After eye surgery, you should avoid swimming pools, hot tubs, saunas, and other bodies of water like lakes and rivers for at least two weeks. No exercise that can get sweat into the eyes. Use common sense, always. Good luck and best wishes.

You can drive with astigmatism, BUT, how much astigmatism do you have, are you safe to drive, especially at night, and do you meet your state's minimum driving visual standards? If you have a small amount of astigmatism, in order to be a little clearer and safer, why not use a pair of glasses only to be used while driving? And a transition lens can be prescribed that will provide you with some sun protection and comfort depending upon how bright it is outside. Good luck and best wishes.

This is a great question and I will present a few questions for you that you should have the answer to, and I will provide you with some other facts. YES, you can get an infection from wearing contact lenses over a month. But, here are a few questions that you must answer for yourself. When you say, "for over a month", have you been instructed to wear your contact lenses for less time, such as 2 weeks, and are you wearing them longer, which you should not do. Are you sleeping in your contact lenses which your eye doctor needs to know? Are you cleaning and disinfecting your contact lenses with solutions that your eye doctor has prescribed? Are you storing your contact lenses in a safe, clean case and are you using the correct, prescribed storage solution?
I always say to my patients "that contact lenses are not glasses". There are risks in wearing any contact lens whether it be a daily disposable contact lens, a 2-week, quarterly, or monthly daily lens. All directions and disclosures that should have been provided to you must be followed at all times. And sleeping in contact lenses adds an additional risk. I would strongly suggest that any questions or concerns that you have be directed to your eye doctor that prescribed your contact lenses. And please keep all follow-up eye appointments. Here is 1 of many websites that also address your question:

https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/contact-lens-related-eye-infections

Good luck and best wishes.

Floaters are found in the vitreous part of your eye. If these are floaters that have been noticed by you for some time, they are probably some of the "floating debris" that is within the vitreous. If these are new, dark particles that were not there before, I would definitely have your eyes checked and dilated by an eye doctor. There are warning signs of vitreous detachments or retinal tears or detachments that can include new floaters, flashes of light, "clouds or curtains" coming over your vision, loss of vision, visual field changes, or anything unusual that has not been noticed or "seen" before these things happened. Floaters will never go away; they are self-contained within the vitreous. Some, depending upon their weight and density may "settle down" where you may not see or notice them within your line of sight. Again, please see an eye doctor so that you have the information that you need and so that your eye doctor can best inform you as to why these floaters are actually there at the present time. Good luck and best wishes.

Cataracts are the normal changes that occur within the lens of the eye. They occur due to UV light exposure, steroid use, medical problems such as diabetes, and aging. Cataracts can be "watched" or monitored over time until or unless they are causing you a visual problem in your personal, professional, and recreational life. Are you OK to drive, are you safe at all times, are there times where you are not seeing something that you should, are all questions that you and your eye doctor should answer before you decide on what to do. Certainly, cataracts can cause a change in an eyeglass prescription which when corrected may provide you adequate and/or clear vision. Contact lenses can be worn even if you have cataracts. At some time, when the cataracts cause a vision problem, things are blurry, you are less safe, or your job or lifestyle are affected, that may be the time when cataract surgery should be considered in order to remove the cloudy lens where the cataract is located and to replace the lens with a new implant. After cataract surgery, you should be seeing very well depending upon your age, health conditions, medications you are taking, and the overall health of the eye. Please see an eye doctor so that you know all of the issues with your eyes and what your alternatives would be. Good luck and best wishes.

Yes, glasses can definitely correct your astigmatism and when you see an eye doctor, it can be determined if you may have some farsightedness or nearsightedness which can also be corrected with glasses or contact lenses. Please make an appointment with an eye doctor so that you have all of the necessary information and what can be done to correct any visual problem. Good luck and best wishes.

There are too many reasons that your vision can be blurry, but I can name a few. Myopia, astigmatism, presbyopia, and hyperopia can be corrected with glasses or contact lenses. Cataracts may be a reason for blurry vision depending upon your age. Medications can cause blurry vision. Diabetes can cause blurry vision as well as many other medical conditions. Cornea and retinal problems can cause blurry vision. There are neurological and vascular conditions that can cause blurry vision. I would strongly suggest that you see an eye doctor so that you can know the source of your blurry vision and what your options are in order to treat or correct the problem. Good luck and best wishes.

GREAT question. You have a very small amount of farsightedness in each eye along with the astigmatism. There may be an "adjustment time" where you need to wear the glasses in order to "calm down" and balance the prescription that has been provided to you. The question of how long to keep wearing them at home first then outside is definitely something that your eye doctor should have discussed with you. Were you told to wear them all of the time, as needed like when you are driving, or just for close work or for the computer?
Was this your first eyeglass prescription? There may be a need on your part to return to your eye doctor and to discuss all of your questions in order to be sure that this prescription is perfect. Or there may be a need to recheck and change the prescription if it is not 100% accurate at all times for your personal and professional needs including driving, TV, driving at night, computer use, reading, and recreational needs. Good luck and best wishes.

The treatment for an optic neuritis are steroid drops that are prescribed by an eye doctor. If you do have optic nerve pain, are you under the care of an eye doctor who has actually diagnosed the fact that the pain is coming from your optic nerve, or might this be something else? There are certainly eye drops to reduce eye pains, but I have never heard of any legitimate eye drop that can reduce optic nerve pain other than anti-inflammatories or steroids. If you are not under the care of an eye doctor, I would see someone that can directly check your eyes and determine what the actual problem is, then to treat it. Good luck and best wishes.

This is somewhat of a "vague" question because when you use the term "relax", do you mean that your eyes are not "relaxed" from a vision perspective, or is this an issue with your comfort level in how your contact lenses feel in your eyes, or is it something else? Certainly every contact lens product has a time-frame as to how long your lenses should be worn daily, weekly, 2 weeks, quarterly, or monthly that has been approved by the FDA and discussed with you with your eye doctor. If this time factor does not work for you personally or professionally, there are other lenses that can be provided in order to be beneficial to you for this reason. If there is a comfort or vision problem, this would be definitely something that you should discuss with your eye doctor. In my opinion, every contact lens patient should always have a pair of glasses that can be used in an emergency or to take a break from a contact lens being in your eyes. If you are sleeping in your contact lenses, your eye doctor should have provided you the information as to how long your lenses should be used before discarding them, as well as providing you the information about the risks of sleeping in contact lenses. Any daily contact lens will not need contact lens solutions to store, clean, or disinfect them because you are throwing them away after 1 use. But if you are using contact lenses and your solutions are creating any issues, this is something else that you should discuss with your eye doctor. Good luck and best wishes.

If you do have an eye infection, an antibiotic eye drop must be prescribed by your family doctor or by an eye doctor. Please see someone (a doctor) in order to determine what is actually the problem and how it should be treated. Good luck and best wishes.

If you do have an eye infection, the question that needs to be evaluated by an eye doctor is what type of infection is it, and what treatment, such as an antibiotic is best? I would strongly suggest that you see an eye doctor in order to find out the cause and the treatment which will also be based upon your age, your health, medical conditions, and current medications that you are using. Good luck and best wishes.

This question can only be determined based upon what type of glaucoma you have, of which there are many. Eye drops and/or surgery are 2 treatment options that can only be evaluated by a glaucoma specialist. The bottom line is that you want your eye pressures to be as low and as safe as possible. Your optic nerves, corneal thickness, visual field tests, age, health, medications, and refractive status will determine which treatments will be best and which will work for you at the time. Good luck and best wishes.

If you do have pink eye which is a type of conjunctivitis, a family doctor or an eye doctor must determine if it is bacterial, allergic, or viral because the treatments are all different. And it should be determined if what you have is actually pink eye or some other type of eye infection. Please see your family doctor, a medical emergency doctor, or an eye doctor. Good luck and best wishes.

The most important answer to this question is for you to be comfortable with whichever contact lens is prescribed, you see perfectly well all of the time, and the "time-frame" works for you personally, professionally, and financially. What I mean by "time-frame" is that there are so many contact lenses on the market that can be prescribed. Some are daily, 1-time use lenses, 2-week lenses, monthly lenses, and quarterly lenses. When you see an eye doctor, you will be prescribed a lens that should work for you and that your eye doctor is 100% happy with as far as fit, comfort, vision, and cost to you. These initial lenses are trial lenses for you "to try". At your follow-up appointments, you will be instructed as to how long to use them for before throwing them out, what solutions you should use to clean, store, and to disinfect them (but not a daily lens), and you will sign a disclosure form so that you totally understand the risks, pros, cons, and benefits of wearing contact lenses. Good luck and best wishes.

There are definitely glasses for astigmatism. Have your eyes checked and have a refraction done to determine your eyeglass prescription. Then, your eye doctor will provide you the options including contact lenses or glasses once it is determined if you have nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism. Good luck and best wishes.

This is sometimes related to the contrast of the darker print on a brighter background. There is no issue related to having any screen brightness that would affect your eyes in a negative-health way, but "eyestrain" can sometimes be attributed to font size, distance looking at the screen, screen coloration, and prescription issues.
I would always suggest that "lesser is better" and to turn the brightness to the point that you feel comfortable especially over long-term use. This is more related to what your eyes feel comfortable with and certainly, how long you spend looking at a computer screen.
And, if there are prescription issues related to your eyes, not only would the correct prescription be beneficial to use at a computer, but these lenses can be tinted to provide you with the best optical and visual effects, especially for
your professional or personal use on the computer.
Here is a good website that addresses your concerns as well as other issues when using a computer.

https://www.wired.com/2013/09/flux-eyestrain/

Good luck and best wishes.

Any time there is pain, sensitivity, or inflammation, it would be wise to see an eye doctor. There are too many reasons to describe as to why your eye hurts. You should see someone who can look at the eye under a microscope, check your eye pressures, check for foreign bodies in the eye that may be causing the discomfort, and have your eyes dilated to be sure all internal areas of both eyes are OK. See an optometrist or an ophthalmologist ASAP, please.

Good luck and best wishes.