Eye strain - will close-up work damage my eyes?

[mattc]

I've been working in a high detail manufacturing role for 3 years, and I now have some big decisions to make about what direction to go in. One aspect is whether eye strain can accelerate the normal degradation of eyesight.

What is the current science/group-think??

[hellymedic]

I don't think close work changes an ageing process!
Kids who do much close work and don't play outdoors much have a greater incidence of short-sightedness.
Folk who don't do close work tend to get reading specs later, just because they have less need for them.
You WILL need reading specs, just like your hair WILL go grey (unless you die first).
Reading specs will make you feel MUCH more comfortable.

Get your eyes optimally corrected for close up, intermediate and distance and get them checked frequently.

Varifocals don't suit everyone and lack of vertical pitch for optimal correction can be troublesome if you have a large field of view.

[arabella]

There's some small print for (bi or) varifocals if you are using a screen that's stright in front of you (in case that's what you mean by close up).

Varifocals assume that looking straight ahead means you are looking into the far distance and that when you are doing close up work then you will be looking down.  So VDU use does not go well with varifocals.

[hellymedic]

VDU goes well with single vision lenses optimised for screen distance. These are intermediate between full-on close vision and distance. We call them 'keyboard' specs here.
Anti-glare coating can be helpful.
Single vision lenses are much, much cheaper than varifocals.

[chrisbainbridge]

If by close up detail work you mean actually looking in detail at very small objects then think about loupes. These make close up work a joy and should allow your eyes to work at a relaxed position. I have used them for delicate surgery for over 30 years and could not concieve of doing fine work without them. They range in price from a couple of hundred upto a couple of thousand pounds.

Really your occupational health department should be dealing with this.

[Kim]

If by close up detail work you mean actually looking in detail at very small objects then think about loupes. These make close up work a joy and should allow your eyes to work at a relaxed position. I have used them for delicate surgery for over 30 years and could not concieve of doing fine work without them. They range in price from a couple of hundred upto a couple of thousand pounds.

Noted and filed away for future reference.  SMD soldering isn't dissimilar to delicate surgery in terms of scale, and I've never been entirely happy with the general restrictiveness and motion artefacts of an anglepoise magnifier.  The usual approach these days seems to be a CCTV microscope, but that destroys your depth perception and the cheap ones can introduce disorienting amounts of lag.

[T42]

If by close up detail work you mean actually looking in detail at very small objects then think about loupes. These make close up work a joy and should allow your eyes to work at a relaxed position. I have used them for delicate surgery for over 30 years and could not concieve of doing fine work without them. They range in price from a couple of hundred upto a couple of thousand pounds.

+1. I use a dental magnifier that cost £40 about 25 years ago.  Straps round your head with Velcro, very light and you can use it with or without glasses. I use it mostly for extracting splinters these days.

[mattc]

If by close up detail work you mean actually looking in detail at very small objects then think about loupes. These make close up work a joy and should allow your eyes to work at a relaxed position. I have used them for delicate surgery for over 30 years and could not concieve of doing fine work without them. They range in price from a couple of hundred upto a couple of thousand pounds.

Really your occupational health department should be dealing with this.

Yep, that's what I'm talking about 

(We don't have OH, instead there are various people that get involved with various bits of it.)

early days yet - I may report back ...

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

I think you may be reaching the age which I did a few years back when my ability to focus close deteriorated sharply.  Happens to all of us when Father Time catches up with us.

[chrisbainbridge]

A responsible employer would I suspect be discussing your eye strain and discomfort.  A report from an optician suggesting like CET that you are getting slightly presbyopic would be helpful.  I think they should supply you with some form of magnification.

[sojournermike]

I think you may be reaching the age which I did a few years back when my ability to focus close deteriorated sharply.  Happens to all of us when Father Time catches up with us.

Indeed. I am reluctantly having to admit, to myself at least, that I am now both short and long sighted...

[mattc]

I think you may be reaching the age which I did a few years back when my ability to focus close deteriorated sharply.  Happens to all of us when Father Time catches up with us.

That may be the most polite comment I have received all week (and it is my birthday week).

Thank you CET 

Seriously now; yes, I am pretty sure I have reached that age in the last few years. But I also think this has stimulated me to think hard about such matters, and whether I might be harming myself in other ways. I'm certain that if my job was 100% pen/mouse pushing I would not notice my decline (at work anyway - reading that useless scale bar while riding with my garmin is another matter ... ) And it just so happens that my role may be changing quite significantly later this year.

[hellymedic]

Most people start to need reading specs in their early 40s.
If they were previously short-sighted, they'll mostly tip their specs away.
I have a brother and sister who are not short-sighted; they started using reading spectacles quite young. My brother also had some previously untreated long-sightedness.

[sojournermike]

Most people start to need reading specs in their early 40s.
If they were previously short-sighted, they'll mostly tip their specs away.
I have a brother and sister who are not short-sighted; they started using reading spectacles quite young. My brother also had some previously untreated long-sightedness.

If your prescription is -9 then tipping the specs away isn't often a great help;)

Otoh, I have vision like a microscope at one particular distance...

I was the child who read under the covers without glasses every night by inadequate light - the vague glow emitted by the 'electroluminescent' display of my Casio FX-39 calculator. If only

Mike

[chrisbainbridge]

I was the child who read under the covers without glasses every night by inadequate light

SNAP!  I could also thread needles that others couldn't so long as the needle was within 2 inches of my face.

Laser surgery in late 30s was an eyeopener as to what normal people mean by seeing things.  The absence of an edge to the field of vision which I did not know was there until `i no longer needed glasses.  Then I hit my early 50s and the glasses came back for reading.  I still enjoy not needing glasses for hill walking and driving.