In this edition or segment of Ask Doctor Julie, we’ve got a question that I hear all the time.
“Why on earth do we see all kinds of crazy asymmetry in lens prescriptions for our kids and ourselves? Why does that happen?” This comes up periodically. There are a couple of reasons why we start to develop asymmetry.
One of the things that you want to look for in either yourself or your kids is to be careful and aware of the fact that if they’re watching TV, are they laying on their side when they watch TV? If they lay in bed at night and read a book, if they’re playing on their phone and they’re laying at an angle or just playing with something or reading something from an angle – one eye is having to focus harder in order to see that material, which will cause an asymmetry in lens prescription.
So again, so far we’ve got laying down watching TV, we’ve got laying down or somehow sitting at an angle with playing on a phone or tablet or a computer, or reading in bed. Another example would be multiple TV screens. Another one is in the classroom, with the use of multiple screens set up like smart screens, dry erase boards and maybe old traditional chalkboards. All of those things cause us to have to focus at a different area, and if I’m looking off to the side, then one eye’s focus is different than the other eye. This could cause some asymmetry.
What about for women and or kids who are carrying purses or backpacks? Now this is an interesting one because if we’re tending to create some structural changes on one side of the body over the other, because we sling a purse over the shoulder or backpack on one side. We tend to hunch our posture after this, then we’re actually, as we are walking around, causing one eye to focus differently.
That can be a reason why we develop asymmetry in our glasses or contact lens prescription. I bet you didn’t think about it but it’s definitely something that you want to think about for certain. I, as a doctor, do not ever like to prescribe glasses that are asymmetric so I’m always trying to make them symmetrical. Because as doctors, as soon as we start prescribing for that asymmetry, it’s going to go like a brush fire in a dry forest, out of control. So we don’t want to do that. We want to try to keep them as symmetrical as possible. Here are some things that you just want to think about: Watch your kids, watch yourself, if you happen to have that setup with multiple screens everywhere, then be careful and cognizant of that. You might not want to do that. Pay attention to our quick tips and Ask Dr. Julie segments that we put out on a regular basis.
If you haven’t, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and if this is you, and you are thinking, “Oh my gosh, my lens prescription’s a minus two and a minus four, what can I do about that? Is it too late?” Or maybe it’s your child, right? So contact us (618) 288-1489 or you can go to our website, fill out a questionnaire, the Quality of Life Questionnaire on the front page there Visionforlifeworks.com. And then we can get back to you. But if you’re local, I just encourage you to pick up the telephone. That’s the easiest and fastest way to get to us.