Episode Transcript
Transcripts are displayed as originally observed. Some content, including advertisements may have changed.
Use Ctrl + F to search
0:00
You're listening to Life Kit from
0:02
NPR. When
0:08
you look at those dots, I'm going to show
0:10
you two choices and I just want you to
0:12
tell me which makes the edges sharper and clearer
0:15
for you. Do
0:17
those look clearer with one or two? One.
0:22
Hey there, this is Andi Tagle in
0:24
for Marielle Sagara and reporting from the
0:27
Office of Optometrist Melanie Langford here in
0:29
San Diego, California. When
0:31
you think about eye health, this is usually the
0:33
image that comes to mind, right?
0:35
Sitting in a dark office in a big
0:37
leather chair, two great big wheels of
0:39
lenses in front of your face making you feel like
0:41
an owl, and little rows of
0:43
letters across the room making you sweat. There's
0:46
no way they put three Z's in a row,
0:48
right? And seven or eight? Eight.
0:53
Okay, perfect. So
0:56
you do not appear to have any
0:58
astigmatism. This part, the
1:00
eye exam part of eye care is
1:03
for the average healthy sighted person.
1:06
Pretty straightforward and in my opinion,
1:09
pretty cool. So you're near sighted. And
1:13
then this is what your vision is with nothing. I
1:16
can't, that's crazy. Big difference. And
1:19
that's with it. I can see. Perfect.
1:22
If you talk to just about anyone who works in
1:24
the field, they'll tell you. There's
1:26
a lot more to eye health than meets, well,
1:30
you know, 80% of
1:32
what we learn about the world comes in through our
1:34
visual pathway. We need our
1:36
eyes to perform our daily activities, do
1:39
our jobs, to navigate the world around
1:41
us. So eye care is so
1:44
much bigger than just a prescription or
1:46
an annual eye exam. So
1:48
in this episode of Life Kit, eye
1:50
health. We'll talk about how to
1:52
combat eye fatigue, we'll separate eye facts from fiction,
1:55
and we'll set our sights on daily practices
1:57
to strengthen and enjoy our vision. eyeball
2:01
leaves, you're gonna learn a lot. I
2:04
know, one too many puns right? I'll
2:07
see myself out. A
2:16
quick note, while this episode
2:19
contains general healthy practices for
2:21
sighted adults, it isn't
2:23
medical advice. So if you
2:25
have any worries about your eyes or your vision, you
2:27
should go see your doctor. Alright, let's
2:30
jump right in with the big one first, shall we? I know
2:33
you're thinking about it, I'm guessing that's why you clicked
2:35
here. Yep, it's
2:37
screen time. Take
2:40
away one. Screen time is hard to
2:42
avoid, but digital eye strain
2:44
doesn't have to be. To
2:46
give your eyes the rest they need, take
2:48
lots of breaks and be mindful of your
2:50
visual space. My
2:53
seemingly endless scrolling and surfing throughout my
2:56
day was actually the genesis for this
2:58
episode. Phones and iPads and TVs and
3:00
laptops being glued to these rectangles
3:02
of light for hours and hours every day
3:05
just cannot be good for our eyes. In
3:08
fact, it's such a problem that the American
3:10
Academy of Ophthalmology and the
3:12
National Eye Institute predict that half
3:14
the world's population, half
3:16
of everybody, will be nearsighted by the end of
3:19
2050. Screens are
3:21
a potential culprit here, so there's
3:23
two systems being engaged when you
3:26
are focusing so hard on the
3:28
computer screen. That's Valerie Lamb, an
3:30
optometrist in Costa Mesa, California whose
3:32
practice also includes vision therapy, a
3:35
non-surgical approach to certain eye conditions like
3:37
lazy eyes or binocular vision. So convergence
3:40
is for our eyes to pull together
3:42
to look at something that's close. Our
3:44
computer screens are usually about 16 to
3:46
20 inches away from our eyes. That
3:48
is a very near target. A
3:50
very near target has
3:53
a lot of Demand
3:55
on our eyes to be able to focus
3:57
and line up. The Other system is our
3:59
accommodation. The system. Which. Is kind of
4:01
like the zoom future of your eyes zooms
4:03
in to make things like queer just like
4:05
as a camera. So. Together, these
4:08
two systems pull together and zoom
4:10
in. And they're hoping that position for
4:12
eight hours a bit. That's
4:14
why people feel I cities are eating another
4:16
get headaches about the eyebrows this like they
4:18
want to rub their temples at the end
4:20
because your vision system is working so hard
4:23
throughout the day. So. It would
4:25
valerie describing is something hold digital I stream
4:27
and it happens when you stare at screen
4:29
for to on. He might get headaches your
4:31
I social dry, You might even have never
4:33
seen that. There's no need to fight with
4:35
that list. The first
4:37
one is catching you My for the
4:39
phrase before Twenty Twenty Twenty. That
4:42
means for every twenty minutes of work
4:44
to get twenty second break and look
4:46
twenty feet away. And why do we
4:48
say twenty feet away? Because we feel
4:50
like that's Eclipse. You just say when
4:52
your eyes are looking far away, your
4:54
eyes and more blacks. Simple enough. Another
4:56
thing to consider is how you set
4:58
up your workspace. less people invest in
5:00
fancy chairs or ergo keyboards. But like,
5:03
what about the ergonomics they are? I
5:05
ate. If you're on of workstations, if
5:07
you have your computer screen and behind
5:09
you is a wall, there's no way
5:11
for your. Eyes to rest. What if you
5:13
were putting your computer next to window? You
5:15
want to think about the position of your
5:18
monitor The top of the screen should be
5:20
at or just below I level control for
5:22
glare and brightness to. Then
5:24
you might consider giving her I muscles a little
5:26
work out every now and again. Bally's that it
5:28
easier for. Him to recall it. Simmer
5:31
pieces and all you need. Is
5:33
really useful in which are going to
5:35
do is they're just going to put
5:37
your straight ahead of you and you're
5:39
going to make a big circle with
5:41
your thumb and you're gonna follow watching
5:43
them with their eyes. You're gonna put
5:45
your thumb in a big circle like
5:47
up to the top of your head,
5:49
out to as far as your arm
5:51
can reach out to the side and
5:53
and down to the bottom. That's including
5:55
all six of your am I muscles
5:57
what you're doing that stuff. So we
5:59
have a patient with a despise circles
6:01
with your right thumb and then switch
6:03
to the other hand and be five
6:05
six with. Your left them going
6:07
in the. Outward. Directions
6:10
on your go, up and out. Then
6:12
there's the like. This. Is a
6:14
super hot topic in the world? Maybe you're one of
6:16
them many many people who went out and got a
6:18
pair of blue eye glasses to protect your eyes in
6:20
the beginning of the pandemic. Here's
6:22
the thing. Is an absolutely no.
6:24
Studies have demonstrated any kind of negative
6:26
effect of blue light on your retina,
6:29
on your side, rocks on your mac
6:31
us nuts after ruble one. She's.
6:33
An optimal adjust and clinical associate professor
6:35
at the University of Hawaii John Byrne
6:37
School of Medicine. I think people get
6:39
a little confused with ultraviolet light and
6:41
blue lights from Dup Factor. But.
6:43
What Blue light does is it affects
6:46
your melatonin. It affects your circadian rhythm.
6:49
So was like from a computer screen is
6:51
in your sleep space it might interrupt your
6:53
bedtime routine just like a lot of sunshine
6:55
might get into a the nap. But other
6:57
than that it's not really something to worry
6:59
about says river. Digital. Eyestrain is
7:02
so once we removed that aspect from device
7:04
in because there was some thought that maybe
7:06
it was related to that the blue belts.
7:08
Really, it comes down to the fact that
7:10
when we are on devices the whether it
7:12
be a computer or a phone or tablet
7:14
we tend not to blink as much and
7:17
we are focusing up close for many hours
7:19
at a time. Blinking. Is
7:21
a lot more important than you think it
7:23
is. When we're not blinking as much your
7:25
eyes get drier. I know, doesn't sound like
7:27
a very big deal. So. The amazing
7:30
thing is that you were to
7:32
yourself is responsible for a good
7:34
part of the clarity of your
7:36
vision. When you have dry
7:38
ice deficient be split into something that
7:41
we often seats. People don't come in
7:43
saying I have dry eyes, they come
7:45
in oftentimes saying my eyes hurt or
7:47
my vision is blurred but it comes
7:50
and goes throughout the day or when
7:52
I blink it gets a little bit
7:54
better. So. And see ramification
7:56
of having dry eyes can be really
7:59
profound than. Really when you get
8:01
very severe dry ice, there a lot of
8:03
different medical problems that can be associate with
8:05
severe try I syndrome. I. Stand
8:07
corrected: Excuse me while I take twenty
8:09
second sibling tibet. Some. Other
8:12
options for making sure your eyes the moist
8:14
throughout the day. You could keep artificial tiers
8:16
handy. It's not eyedrops. There is a difference.
8:19
But. There have been recalls lately so you
8:21
might want to do a quick search before
8:23
you buy. You could also get results like
8:25
a mini spa treatment at the beginning and
8:27
end of each day by putting warm compresses
8:29
over your eyes. That. Can help
8:31
moisturize that Wales hands on your eyelids that
8:33
you need to make. We'll for your tears
8:35
do at least for five minutes morning and
8:37
night. Just might help. And it's it's an
8:39
easy thing. It helps even for people who
8:41
have allergies of live a lot of different
8:44
ways. That says, having that lubricant in your
8:46
chair film can be of benefit. Up
8:49
next I hygiene. let's talk dirty
8:51
details about keeping our eyes clean
8:53
their the windows to the sole
8:55
after all. so let's make sure
8:57
we treat them accordingly. Ethically
9:00
to protect your P bursts bi
9:02
curious on wind and lifestyle choices
9:05
Can all a sex these two
9:07
small precious organs. Let's start with
9:09
bacteria. I'm looking at you
9:12
contact lens wearers when you sleep and
9:14
your contact lenses are increasing the risk
9:16
of infection at the cornea. Have to
9:18
eat my and I've heard people I
9:20
with my contract for that vitamin I'm
9:22
not gotten. Facilities are very very lucky
9:24
if that's great that it really is
9:26
setting up the perfect environment. For all
9:28
these micro organisms to grow and
9:31
replicate that like and moist, moist.
9:33
Environment for think about that image in your
9:35
head before you switch of six times. I
9:37
glad that. Repossess. Easily the
9:40
healthiest still. Also often the most
9:42
expensive and packaging have the option
9:44
is a daily contact and that's
9:47
because those lines material that it's
9:49
made up is going to have
9:51
a higher oxygen permeability. If
9:54
you have to be cleanses or monthly lenses,
9:56
she says it's important. not to try and
9:58
stretch the timing of them The
10:00
clock starts the minute you open the package. And
10:03
remember, regardless of which type of contact you wear,
10:06
life happens. So before you find
10:08
yourself without contact solution or your carrying case,
10:10
or the next time you want to take
10:12
a nap on a plane, just always, always,
10:14
always people need to have a good set
10:16
of glasses. Because I think the biggest issue
10:19
with wanting to take out your contact lenses
10:21
at the end of the day is that
10:23
they don't have enough to-date glasses prescription. Another
10:25
bugaboo for eye doctors, makeup. Hey,
10:28
my ethnicities, Indians, they are all
10:30
into the really tight lining, water
10:32
lining, the big dramatic eyes. So
10:34
we can do all of this,
10:37
keeping your eyes healthy. The most important thing is
10:39
to remove and wash your makeup every
10:42
single night without fail. I'll
10:45
admit, I was pretty loosey goosey about this before.
10:47
And then Rupa told me this thing. They've
10:49
done studies and they have shown there
10:52
are Demodex lash mites
10:55
that live on your lashes that
10:57
come out at night. Lash
11:00
mites. They love mascara.
11:03
Look it up if you dare. Another
11:05
big no-no is putting eyeliner on your waterline.
11:07
That's the pink part of your eyelid. I
11:09
love that look. It's not
11:12
one that we recommend because it can block
11:14
the oil glands of your eyelids. It can
11:16
cause styes. It can cause
11:18
issues with dry eyes. Also
11:20
those loose glitter eyeshadows. They
11:23
tend to really fall into the eye and
11:25
a lot of particulate matters. So usually I
11:27
would avoid the loose ones as well. You
11:30
can do glitter shadows. The pressed
11:32
ones are going to be a bit better. Other
11:34
best practices include regularly cleaning your applicators
11:37
and brushes and actually following the expiration
11:39
dates on your mascara and other eye
11:41
makeup. And they might be shorter than
11:43
you think. Check your boxes. Most dates
11:45
run somewhere in the range of three to 12
11:47
months. Moving
11:50
on to sun damage. It is
11:52
no joke. Exposure to the sun, even
11:54
in small amounts, over time can lead
11:57
to serious eye problems like cataracts or
11:59
macarons. You
12:01
can develop callus-like tissue on the whites of your eyes from too
12:04
much sun, dust, or wind. And we
12:06
can't forget the eyelid and the external structures of
12:08
the eye because you can get cancers on those
12:11
parts of the eye, which is
12:13
why sunglasses and hat use is so important. Rupa
12:16
suggests wearing hats with at least a three-inch brim when
12:18
you're outside for an extended period of time, and
12:20
to be cognizant not only of direct
12:22
sunlight, but also things like exposure to
12:25
glare or reflection from the road. Then
12:28
there's sunglasses. Are they
12:30
all created equal? They are not. The
12:33
most important thing about sunglasses is it has a
12:35
little sticker on it that says 100% UVA, UVB.
12:39
Polar eye sunglasses will make your eyes
12:41
more comfortable, especially if you're wearing them in
12:43
a place with a lot of glare. But
12:46
be warned, unless they also
12:48
specifically say UVA and UVB, you're
12:50
not getting the sun protection you
12:52
need. Other lifestyle factors
12:55
that affect your eyesight, like diet
12:57
and exercise, don't require any super
12:59
special ingredients or supplements. Yes,
13:01
what you've always heard is true. Carrots are
13:04
good for your eyes. But it's not just
13:06
about the carrots. And the beta-carrotine
13:08
that you get from carrots is also present
13:10
in things like sweet potatoes and cantaloupe and
13:13
spinach and tomatoes. When it
13:15
comes to healthy practices, Rupa says, don't
13:17
overthink it. All the things that
13:19
you would think about for the lifestyle factors that if you're
13:21
aiming for a healthy life, just getting good sleep, being
13:24
able to not smoke
13:27
and just exercising, has been
13:29
shown just the same to affect your eye health
13:31
just as much as affects the rest of your
13:33
body. Now let's turn to prescriptions, because I don't
13:35
know about you, but every time I walk out
13:38
of my eye doctor's office, I look
13:40
at that little piece of paper and I'm like, what
13:42
in the name of middle school science am I looking
13:44
at right now? Let's
13:46
go over what you actually need to know. This is
13:48
my favorite, my favorite class in six-pray. This is probably
13:50
why I wanted to optimize. I love optics so much.
13:53
Takeaway three, understand your prescription. When
13:55
you receive your prescription, you'll see
13:58
two rows, OS and OD. Very
14:00
simple. OS, oculus sinister, is
14:02
Latin for left eye, and OD,
14:04
oculus dexter, is Latin for right
14:06
eye. No idea why it's
14:08
necessary to be in Latin, but I digress. Your
14:11
prescription can be different for each eye. Then
14:14
you'll see a plus or minus number. A
14:18
plus prescription means you're hyperoptic or farsighted.
14:22
In this case, you might have trouble seeing
14:24
close-up or even at medium distance because
14:26
the eyeball is a little bit short.
14:29
So we put a stronger plus lens
14:31
in front of the eye to bring
14:33
that light so that
14:35
it can focus on to the retina
14:38
instead of behind the retina. If you
14:40
have a minus prescription, you're
14:42
myopic or nearsighted. That
14:45
means you have trouble seeing far away because
14:48
the eyeball itself is shaped a
14:50
little bit longer and because
14:52
of that we use a minus lens
14:54
to push the light back so it's
14:56
on the retina. In general, the
14:59
higher your number in either direction, the worse
15:01
your natural vision and the stronger the lens
15:03
you'll need to be able to see clearly. But
15:06
Rupa says in particular your doctor's gonna want
15:08
to keep an eye on nearsightedness. That's that
15:11
minus prescription because in that case your retina
15:13
might be stretched more thinly than the average
15:15
eye. Anything from a zero to
15:17
a negative three is considered a mild prescription.
15:20
Negative three to negative six is moderate
15:22
and then anything above a minus six
15:24
really puts you in a very different
15:27
risk category of high myopioids
15:29
where you can get retinal tears,
15:31
retinal detachments, cataracts, glaucomat, so anybody
15:34
that's a minus six diopter or
15:36
higher, then we want to make sure we're
15:38
following them at least once a year for
15:40
sure. Now there's one more condition to
15:42
be aware of on your prescription, astigmatism.
15:45
So many people get really concerned about
15:47
astigmatism. They worry about it. They say,
15:49
oh my gosh, doctor, I have astigmatism
15:51
and they think it's a really terrible
15:53
diagnosis and it's not. All it
15:55
is is the shape of the front surface of your
15:57
eyeball. Regular shaped corneas are. Keep
16:00
like has a basketball but people with
16:02
a segment is I'm stoked when you
16:04
look more like has a football and
16:06
because it that the lights getting to
16:08
fake it until lot of different points
16:10
and so to bring it all into
16:12
one point we use a cylindrical and
16:14
and that helps focus the light onto
16:16
the retina. You can be near sighted
16:18
with astigmatism or farsighted with astigmatism either
16:20
one. All combined that prescription
16:22
should be able to give you good,
16:25
clear, hopefully twenty twenty vision that can
16:27
help you better navigate the world around
16:29
you. Serious. What twenty
16:31
twenty means? exactly? Yeah meet.
16:33
You. Know. This is all arbitrarily
16:35
said by. Twenty Twenty refers to what
16:38
the quote unquote average person that can
16:40
see at twenty feet away. So.
16:43
The first twenty refers to actual
16:45
distance. The second twenty refers to
16:47
how close and object appears. So.
16:50
If you can see twenty Fifteen, that
16:52
means you can see at twenty feet
16:55
And a quote, normal person can see
16:57
at fifteen seat. How good can you
16:59
guess? I can go all the way
17:01
down to Twenty Ten. Wow. Some people
17:03
concert versus a that yeah supervision like
17:06
have a T that looks like a
17:08
ladybug processor and people can see that
17:10
from. Yeah. Now
17:13
that we can all read our prescriptions,
17:15
let's talk about what factors actually affect
17:18
them because they're a lot of myths
17:20
and misconceptions out there quickly. For reflect
17:22
or fiction, learn what can and cannot
17:24
affect the quality of your vision. For
17:26
example, maybe you have a parent or
17:28
grandparent? Avoid using the reading glasses for
17:30
fear of becoming too dependent on them.
17:32
They sail boats. I started wearing reading
17:34
glasses and Nhs all went downhill. I
17:37
can't even exist without them. It's not
17:39
that you've made your eyes weaker, it's
17:41
simply that now you see more clearly
17:43
with. Your readers on and you notice
17:45
that difference. That's it. And
17:47
opposite is also true so I'm
17:49
slightly near sighted. For example, my
17:51
doctor prescribed the glasses for movies,
17:54
concerts, driving at night. But.
17:56
i'm constantly forgetting them rupa says
17:58
i don't have to worry making
18:00
my eyes worse by not wearing my glasses
18:02
every time I'm supposed to. There's nothing about
18:04
glasses that changes the structure
18:07
or shape or the muscles of the
18:09
eye or the focusing ability
18:11
of the eye. It's not going to change it.
18:13
That's a relief. Though when
18:15
you do wear your frames, you're gonna want
18:17
to make sure you have an up-to-date prescription.
18:19
If it's an old glasses prescription, it might give
18:21
you some eye fatigue, it might give you eye strain, maybe
18:23
it might give you a headache because you
18:26
have to strain to see
18:28
a little bit better. If it's really old, but
18:31
typically it's not going to cause any
18:33
lasting damage. Generally speaking, Ruba says that
18:36
most prescriptions will stabilize around early adulthood,
18:38
but that's not always the case. So
18:41
let's break down what can change the quality of your
18:43
vision. Some conditions like
18:45
cataracts can be age-related. Excessive
18:48
smoking and drinking have been linked to a
18:50
number of eye diseases that could then worsen
18:52
your vision. There are also some medical conditions
18:54
that will do the same. High
18:56
blood pressure for one. And then
18:58
if you have conditions like diabetes,
19:01
that actually can affect the lens of your eye
19:03
and can make you nearsighted. So there are a
19:05
lot of medical issues. And then there's one more
19:07
which we've kind of delved into already. And
19:10
near work is associated with becoming nearsighted.
19:13
Near work is what it sounds like.
19:16
Any work that you focus on up close, as
19:18
in within arm's reach. So all
19:20
that screen time we were talking about definitely
19:23
falls under this umbrella. Video games,
19:25
computer work, but also homework
19:27
time, reading, drawing, all near
19:29
work too. The good news is the fix
19:31
is as simple as you think it might be. Just
19:34
getting away from the desktop and
19:36
getting outside. Takeaway
19:38
five, our final takeaway, is
19:41
take your eyes outside. Often,
19:44
one of the very best ways to enjoy your
19:46
sight and strengthen your vision is
19:49
to take in the natural world
19:51
around you. Being outside is so
19:54
crucial, especially in my younger patient
19:56
population. This might sound a little hyperbolic,
19:58
but there's a lot of signs. backing this
20:00
up, especially when it comes to young eyes.
20:04
Recent research suggests that regular outdoor time for kids,
20:07
up to two hours a day is
20:09
what both Valerie and Rubo recommend, may
20:11
help slow or even prevent nearsightedness. That's
20:14
a big deal. There
20:17
are a couple of theories as to why this is. One
20:19
is that when you're outside looking at nature, you're
20:21
spending less time looking at things so close up.
20:24
Your eyes are taking more things in at a
20:26
distance, which is important for eye development and eye
20:29
rest. The other theory is that
20:31
sunlight slows eye growth, which could help
20:33
eyes from unnaturally elongating, which is a
20:35
cause of nearsightedness. Okay, let's go outside. But
20:44
then there's the fact that it just, you
20:46
know, feels good. It's
20:48
a beautiful day today, Teddy. Do
20:50
you see the cars going by? Use
20:53
your eyes to take in all the wonders
20:55
around you. That's why I bother with eye
20:58
care at all. Do you want to play a
21:00
little eye spy? Eye spy?
21:02
A big tree. My
21:09
nine month old hasn't really said as much
21:11
yet, but I'm pretty sure he agrees with
21:13
me. You're right. We don't have to say anything.
21:15
We can just take it in, huh? Okay,
21:18
friends. Thanks for learning how to
21:20
take care of those peepers along with me. Let's
21:23
recap. Take
21:25
away one. To avoid digital eye strain, take
21:28
lots of breaks and be purposeful about your
21:30
visual workspace. Take away two. Practice
21:32
good eye hygiene. That means
21:34
changing out those contacts, wearing those sunglasses, and
21:37
note to self, not wearing that winged eyeliner
21:39
too close or for too long. Take
21:42
away three. To understand your eyes,
21:44
understand your prescription. No
21:46
letters chart necessary. Take
21:48
away four. Separate eye fact from fiction. Glasses
21:51
don't change the structure of your eye. Take
21:54
away five. Get out in the world and give your
21:56
eyes a visual treat. The science says
21:58
it's good for you and your heart will. For.
22:02
More Life Kid. Check out our other
22:04
episodes I hosted one on how to
22:06
Get along with your inlaws and we
22:08
have another on your Care can Buy
22:10
Know That and pure.org/life Kit. And if
22:12
you love Life Kit and want more,
22:14
subscribe to our newsletter and pure.org/life Kids
22:16
newsletter. Also, we'd love to hear from
22:18
you to hear episode ideas are feedback
22:21
you want to share. Email us at
22:23
like. It at npr.org.
22:27
This. Episode of Like It was produced
22:29
by Clamoring Snyder or host is Marissa
22:31
Sekera and are visuals editor is that
22:33
Carlin. Our digital editor is Melissa Curried.
22:36
they can change is is supervising editor.
22:38
Spit on of in is the executive
22:40
producer or production team also includes Audrey
22:42
When and so the Daedalus engineering support
22:44
comes from David Greenberg, Mbeki Brown and
22:47
a very special thanks to Melanie Langford,
22:49
Matthew Langford Cerebral House and the whole
22:51
team at Family Vision Here. Optometry. I'm
22:55
Andy Take. Things Seriously.
Podchaser is the ultimate destination for podcast data, search, and discovery. Learn More