⏱️ 02:00 MIN. READING TIME
When the eyelid trembles, it indicates a condition called MYOKYMIA, characterized by a muscle contraction in either the lower or upper eyelid of one or both eyes (though having both eyes affected is rare). These ocular spasms are temporary and fade away as spontaneously as they appear. In rare cases or due to certain pathologies, this annoyance may persist for weeks or even months.
THE CAUSES OF MYOKYMIA:
STRESS: the most common cause. The body, like a sponge, absorbs and processes every tension, then turning it into tics, outbursts, insomnia, and more.
FATIGUE AND LACK OF SLEEP: Regularly losing hours of sleep promotes the onset of this minor annoyance.
EYE FATIGUE: we translate this into excessive use of computers, tablets, and other devices, as well as intense proximal work.
ABUSE OF CERTAIN SUBSTANCES SUCH AS ALCOHOL AND CAFFEINE or SMOKING, remember that these are exciting and stimulating substances for the body.
DRY EYE: This condition is very common after 50 years of age or due to the use of contact lenses, but it can also occur if exposed to a particularly polluted environment or if using drugs (as a subsequent contraindication).
NUTRITIONAL IMBALANCES: the first element among all is magnesium, if deficient it can lead to the manifestation of this trembling.
ALLERGIES: rubbing your eyes when they itch leads to the release of histamine in the eyelid tissues and tear film, promoting this discomfort.
MEDICATIONS: There are medications that induce myokymia as a side effect.
HEMIFACIAL SPASM: A non-dystonic condition that involves various muscles and causes irritation of the facial nerve.
Usually, this discomfort presents itself as an isolated event and remains as such, without arousing suspicion and without creating worries.
WHEN TO BE CONCERNED?!
Concern arises when the discomfort persists despite efforts to improve sleep, diet, and reducing intake of the aforementioned substances. If symptoms like red or painful eyes, changes in pupil appearance, or difficulty keeping the eye open due to involuntary closure occur, medical consultation is advised. Persistent tremors or sudden changes in facial appearance or movement also warrant a doctor’s visit to rule out serious conditions like glaucoma, blepharitis, corneal abrasion, uveitis, Tourette syndrome, Parkinson’s Disease, Dystonia, Bell’s Palsy, and Multiple Sclerosis. Electromyography and magnetic resonance imaging are commonly recommended diagnostic tests.
PREVENTION STRATEGIES:
- Reduce Stress: Engage in physical activities or hobbies that promote relaxation.
- Regular, Adequate Sleep: Ensure a sufficient amount of sleep to maintain overall health.
- Moderate Substance Use: Limit intake of alcohol, caffeine, and avoid smoking.
- Protect Your Eyes: Use blue light filtering glasses when using digital devices and ensure proper lighting and screen distance.
- Manage Dry Eyes: Use artificial tears to maintain optimal eye hydration.
For immediate relief, applying a warm damp towel on the eyes can help alleviate the discomfort. Drinking teas, herbal infusions, or chamomile can be relaxing and contribute to overall hydration, which is essential for eye health.
If myokymia persists, Botox injections may be considered as a treatment option, but this invasive approach should be determined and performed by a specialist.
⏱️ 03:10 READING TIME
What is astigmatism?
Astigmatism is a relatively common refractive error that now affects even the youngest audience. It manifests itself by causing blurred or distorted vision at any distance.
In younger children, there is less awareness of what constitutes “correct vision,” making it challenging to receive useful feedback from them to diagnose astigmatism.
How does the structure of an astigmatic eye appear? Firstly, the natural curvature of the cornea or lens has an irregular shape. Typically, both are perfectly concave, with a constant spherical curvature throughout the eye. When the curvature is ovalized, vision becomes blurred at any distance. In a “normal” eye, there is a single focal point on the retina, while an astigmatic eye has different focal points.
What are the causes of astigmatism?
The causes of astigmatism are not entirely clear, but it is believed that a significant factor is genetic, involving heredity. Children of astigmatic parents are more likely to develop this condition, making it congenital. Another important factor, independent of heredity, is eye trauma resulting from injuries, surgeries, or infections.
How do we notice if a child is suffering from astigmatism??
There are behaviors that may alert parents to the possibility of this visual disturbance. Let’s see which one:
If the child struggles to focus on printed words and
- tends to reduce the distance from the monitor while watching TV, attempting to improve focus
- experiences itching and eye fatigue
- suffers from recurrent headaches
- displays redness of the sclera
- has frequent dizziness
- tilts the head to seek better visual comfort
What to do then?
The first step is to take the child to an eye doctor at the beginning of kindergarten, and in any case, before starting elementary school. This way, the child can get used to wearing glasses before facing the intense daily work. The best advice is never to wait for the onset of abnormal behavior to consult an eye specialist but to schedule one or more check-ups during the growth phase.
How is astigmatic vision corrected?
Through the use of toric lenses. These special lenses have a specific correction capacity on both meridians differently, correcting only those areas where focus does NOT fall on the retina, as it normally does in a healthy eye.
Toric lenses can also be photochromic, allowing the child to play safely both indoors and in sunlight without having to worry about changing glasses depending on the situation. In this case, the advantage will also be saving on additional sunglasses.
In milder forms, astigmatism can be improved or almost completely eliminated through eye exercises.
These exercises are prescribed after a thorough eye examination and are based on the results of various tests. The therapy typically includes:
- Eye exercises
- Use of special lenses or filters
- Application of eye patches
- Specific stimulating programs on the computer
They are usually prescribed for older children due to the consistency they can already develop, but it is not challenging today to get a child or teenager used to these measures given their simplicity.
Astigmatism can be lived with comfortably, as it is not a visually debilitating condition. The key is to rely on regular check-ups with a trusted eye specialist, capable of providing optical instruments with high-quality and precision requirements.
⏱️ 04:50 MINUTI DI LETTURA
You have bought a new pair of glasses and you can’t wait to wear them. Don’t forget to take as much time as you need to get used to the new “set-up”. It is absolutely normal at first to visibly perceive the edge of the frame or to feel differently the presence “on” of the new eyewear. For some it takes only a few days, while for others it may take more than a week. It happens, in fact, that the visual center of our brain has adapted and therefore compensated for the old vision, and therefore needs a short period to adapt to the new improved visual conditions.
So, it is very important you to wear the new frame constantly to let your eyes get used to it, and to see if the situation improves and the problems disappear for good.
Sometimes, however, your expectations turn out to be disappointing: wearing your new glasses is not so comfortable, indeed! Fortunately, there is a solution to everything. Our advice is to buy your glasses from a trustworthy reseller, able to ensure your satisfaction even through some several different solutions.
Here are some more or less common problems you may run into when wearing new glasses.
1.Blurred vision. There are two possibilities: either you are wearing glasses with wrong lenses or your sight is getting worse rapidly. In both cases, we suggest you go back to your ophthalmologist and let him check the lenses. If they DO NOT correspond to what prescribed by the doctor, the optician will simply have to redo them. Should the lenses match instead the prescription, your sight may have changed in the time-lapse. The reasons can be different but all equally feasible and important:
a) Stress changes your sight. We advise you to undergo the eye examination in total relaxation, since stress can badly influence your sight as well as it does with blood pressure and heart. The results might be therefore distorted and you may run the risk to get unsuitable corrective lenses.
b) Chronic diseases. Some of them, such as diabetes or hypertension, have an important impact on sight. They can sometimes cause a sudden worsening of the situation. The only solution is then to schedule a frequent check-up. In this case, there is no blame for the optician or for the person who prescribed the lenses;
c) Take medicines. Some of them can temporarily change your sight. We recommend you to inform your eye doctor about this so that he can proceed with the suitable prescription and make the right considerations.
2. Reflections: if you notice reflections on the inside of the lenses when wearing your glasses, it means that the anti-reflective filter is most likely missing. We always recommend it because it avoids annoying glare of light that leads to visual fatigue, interference during night vision and sometimes even hindrance of eye contact. Ask the optician if this treatment is included and if it is not, ask for it to be added to the lenses.
3. The new glasses slip from the nose: this situation is very easy to solve. You have only to adjust the temples by bending their ends and be careful they do not rest directly on the bone behind the ear, otherwise you can feel a certain discomfort. If the frame has nose pads, then you can act on them by increasing the grip on the nose. This problem may happen with both new and long-used frames.
4. The first time with progressive lenses: This is an important step and it may take some time. You have to desist from moving or lifting your neck and wait for your eye to react to the stimulus of the lens. If you really feel uncomfortable and that you have dared too much, then your optician could replace them with different multifocal lenses. The change could also be made under warranty with bifocal or single vision lenses (less expensive).
5. You don’t like eyewear anymore: you’ve tried it and tried it again, yet now you realize you don’t like it anymore. What can you do? Some optical stores allow you to return the frame within a certain time lapse: they then replace it or offer you a coupon on your next purchase. Since eyewear is an important investment, it is a good idea to check whether or NOT you have this option before proceeding with the purchase, especially if you are not 100% convinced. Some opticians offer the possibility to replace or receive a refund at no extra costs, others ask you to sign up for a policy and still others replace the eyewear upon payment of a small fee.
6. And what about sunglasses? You can’t do without UV protection, but you didn’t think of it right away. There are two solutions: either you buy a second pair of glasses with graduated lenses or you decide to replace the lenses you have just purchased with a pair of photochromic ones that can protect you in the same way from UV rays.
As you have read in the cases listed above, it is important to understand when you should take out an additional insurance policy and which one. A good policy provides for the replacement of a part or the entire glasses if there are defects in the frame or the replacement of the lenses if they do not correspond to the initial medical prescription or if the prescription itself was incorrect. As previously mentioned, if you believe that the lenses have not been made correctly, we advise you to contact the ophthalmologist who carried out the visit. He is the only one who can verify the accuracy of the powers and compare them with your vision. There should be usually no additional cost for this type of consultation. But be careful, the policy may provide for the free replacement of the lenses only once within a certain period of time.
If the policy provides for it, you can get the money paid for the purchase back.
All damages, however, caused to the glasses, are practically NEVER covered by the insurance you take out. The optician knows this very well, he can recognize when a pair of glasses has suffered a blow, or a sudden stress leading to the break. Especially when it’s a high quality frame, it will hardly break. And moreover, it is impossible for it to break, even by itself.
So, let’s remember what to do when we are going to buy a new pair of glasses:
• Go to your trusted optician, the one who has always known you and is able to find the best solution for you.
• Have your eye examination in the best possible conditions and inform the doctor if you’re taking any medicine that can change your visual perception.
• Choose certified quality lenses, as well as the frame. A quality frame increases the longevity of the optical instrument thus amortizing your investment.
• Decide which filters your frame’s lenses should have. We recommend the anti-blue, anti-reflective and photochromic filter, if you don’t plan to buy sunglasses as well.
• Choose the frame that suits your face. That’s easy! (We recommend you to read our blog “to each his own … GLASSES!”)
• Decide how many pairs of glasses you need, also depending on the uses you intend to make with them (eyesight, sun, eyesight/sun, sports). It may be that on the second or third pair of glasses you buy, you can get some interesting discounts.
• Carefully consider if and which insurance you’d better to take out to cope with unexpected events.
And remember, it’s always a good habit to train your eyesight. As we age, the eye muscles also get old and their responses slow down. Help yourself with simple and quick exercises. Find them here in our blog.
Always choose responsibly.
⏱️ 03:10 MINUTES OF READING
They are the most coveted customers, the ones that can only be won with patience and understanding: CHILDREN. Choosing together the frame that best suits them can represent a fun and informative experience for both.
In this article we want to tell you about a special type of customer that requires special consideration from opticians during the sales phase. We will also analyse the most popular trends in choosing the perfect frame for the little ones.
Of course, we need to ask the child this question: which pair of glasses do you want? Most answers fall into one of these two categories:
- I want the same glasses as…
- I want the glasses of my favourite superhero (their current idol).
This way, we already have two guidelines that can allow the optician to figure out which glasses to suggest.
On the one hand, children try to imitate adults, especially people they admire and people who listen to them. It could be a parent, an older brother/sister or even their best friend who also wears glasses. For this reason, besides technical frames, your collection must also include some with a more classic line that can remind adult glasses in miniature. It doesn’t matter if the frame is made of acetate or metal, they must look similar to those of the “adults”. We can overlook the colours for now; children always like them.
On the other hand, children may be inspired by a character from a cartoon, by a popular rapper or even by a superhero. In this case, apart from the shape, it’s also important to consider the colours! Of course we still need to find a frame that suits them, but especially the colours that represent their idol. Colours that are sober and that can always be worn casually but that hide a rebel soul, just like the idol our little adults admire and want to imitate!
And you know, being able to sell the right pair of glasses to a child means also conquering the parents and hopefully the whole family!
Analysing the situation through the eyes of a parent, you will be able to learn about the new needs that generate the different trends. We will discuss this later and list a number of points to take into account during the selection phase of glasses for children. The primary requirement is always durability and quality though.
We must also consider a small detail that cannot be ignored. Especially at the beginning, the child won’t be so happy about the glasses. They are often seen as a hindrance to their freedom of movement and as a task because they must pay attention to how to wear and how to remove the glasses without breaking them.
No product is indestructible but it’s still better if the child wears a frame of higher quality than average to ensure greater durability over time. Also the lenses can considerably increase the total cost, especially if you have to create them to correct a major ocular dysfunction. It is not the right choice then to choose an economic frame as if it were to break, it would be difficult to find the spare parts and it could be necessary to pay again for a new pair of glasses.
How can we help parents to make the child understand the importance of wearing glasses? It’s not a secret. Actually, the answer is very simple: we need to involve him and make him the central part of the entire process of choice. This way, the child will get the glasses he wants and it will be easier for him to accept and wear it. He will be happy about them and what initially was cause of discomfort will turn into a source of pride and uniqueness!
Unfortunately, not everyone thinks that it is important to listen to the wishes of the child and often they receive glasses that are functional, of course, but horrible to their eyes. This makes it difficult for the child to get accustomed to them and to create a routine that will allow him to wear the frame automatically and casually.
We recommend that you always remind customers, especially parents, that wearing a glasses is not like wearing a shirt that you may like or not but that has the sole purpose of covering the body. A pair of glasses is an instrument that must be worn for the physical and mental well-being of the child himself; the same way an adult would never wear glasses that he does not like, also a child will probably do the same. And as we said at the beginning, remember: a satisfied child becomes a loyal customer… he will soon return (not considering fashion, of course) because he will grow up and will need a pair of glasses that suits his new teenage needs!
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