Category: Eye Resources

Ever wonder why your eyes are blue, green, brown, or somewhere in between? The colored part of your eye, the Iris, contains pigmentation which determines our eye color. Your parents pass on chromosomes which combine to customize your eye color.

How eye color develops

Eye color is not as simple as other genetic traits. Three different genes contribute to your eye color. Due to dominant gene types, darker colors like brown overpower lighter colors like blue and green. Colors such as gray, hazel, and multiple combinations are not as common and are not yet completely understood.

Most babies are born with blue eyes, but did you know their eyes can darken for three years? Melanin is a pigment not present at birth, which develops with age and causes eyes to darken. The more melanin someone has, the darker their eyes will be.

Facts About Common Eye Colors:

• Brown: Most common eye color worldwide. This varies between dark brown, light brown, and honey brown eyes.
• Blue: People with blue eyes have less melanin in their eyes than any other color. Blue eyes are thought to come from a genetic mutation of one individual.
• Green: Thought to be the most attractive and one of the rarest eye colors.
• Hazel: The hue of hazel eyes changes based on what you are wearing and the type of lighting you are in. Hazel eyes host a variety of colors.

Changes in eye color

When your pupil changes size, the pigments in the iris of your eye compress or spread apart causing the color of your eyes to change. Your pupils change size for a variety of reasons including changes in light and the distance of the object you are focusing on. Emotions can also change the pupil size and iris color.

Heterochromia

Heterochromia is a condition in which a person’s eyes are different colors, caused by one eye having more melanin than the other. Typically, present at birth and is not considered an eye disease as it does not commonly cause vision problems.

Enhancing your eye color

• Wear eyeglass frames to compliment your eye color and skin tone.

Example: Determine if you are “warm” or “cool” toned skin and eye color then match your frames with a complementary color.

• Use eye makeup to bring out the color of your eyes.

Example: Pinks, purples, and silvers bring out the warmth in brown eyes.

• Wear clothing which compliments or contrasts your eye color.

Example: Orange, red, and gold highlight the natural hue of blue eyes.

• Choose hairstyles and colors to accentuate your eyes.

Example: Bangs and layers which frame the face draw more attention to your eyes.

• Colored contact lenses give you the opportunity to try out a new look.

Have you ever gone to pick out new eyeglasses, but been overwhelmed by all your options? Do you ever struggle to know what eyewear shape looks best on you? We’ve compiled our best tips for picking the perfect pair of eyewear to help make your decisions easier.

1. Contrast your face shape

   • There are seven basic face shapes to review including oval, base-up or base-down triangle, oblong, square, diamond, and round. Eyewear should contrast your face shape but be in scale with your face size. Find your face shape below and try out our recommended shape frames
     
     1. Oval: wide or walnut-shaped frames
        
     2. Base-up triangle: frames with a wider bottom, light color or lightweight
        
     3. Oblong: frames with more depth than width
        
     4. Square: narrow frames and with more width than depth
        
     5. Diamond: cat-eye shaped frames or other detailing on the brow line
        
     6. Round: narrow frames which are wider and have a clear bridge
        
     7. Base-down triangle: frames with color or detailing on the top half

2. Highlight your features

   • Pick your best or favorite feature and pick a frame to highlight it.
   • Some features to consider highlighting would be your eyes, hair, skin color, and face shape. For example, if you have blue eyes, try a blue frame to match and highlight your eye color.

3. Match or complement colors

   • Your skin, eyes, and hair work together to create your overall coloring. Everyone has either a cool (blue or pink undertones) or a warm (yellow or orange undertones) overall color. Try a frame from our color list below to complement your coloring.
   • Warm coloring: camel, khaki, gold, copper, peach, orange, coral, red, or warm blue
   • Cool coloring: black, silver, rose-brown, blue-gray, plum, magenta, pink, blue, or tortoise

4. Find the perfect size

   • Try on multiple pairs to see what size fits your face shape best.
   • If the frames are too small your peripheral vision will be limited and could potentially feel tight on the head. The frames should not pinch your nose, leave red marks, slide down your nose, or easily slip off your head. The tightness around your ears can be adjusted to get the perfect fit.  

5. Match your frames to your lifestyle

   • Make sure your frames will work for every part of your life and will be a representation of you and your personality.
   • Pick frames to match your unique lifestyle and hobbies. Consider your common activities when choosing frames. For example, if you are more active you may want a pair of sports eyewear or a wraparound band. If you spend a lot of time on the computer, you may want eyeglasses with a tinted lens.

6. Anti-reflective coating

   • An anti-reflective coating helps eliminate reflections on both sides of your lenses to cut down annoying glare and improve night vision.
   • Anti-reflective coatings allow for sharper, clearer vision with less glare. The lenses appear to be nearly invisible, giving the eyeglasses a more attractive appearance and allowing for better eye contact.

7. Are weight and material important to you?

   • Frames are most commonly made of plastic, metal, or a combination of materials. This combination determines the longevity, weight, and average cost of a frame.
   • Key Features:

• • • • • Stainless steel and titanium are long lasting
          
        • Metal frames often have adjustable nose pads
          
        • Metal frames can come in hypoallergenic materials
          
        • Plastic frames tend to be less expensive
          
        • Plastic frames are lighter
          
        • Plastic frames typically need less maintenance than metal frames
          
        • Flexible hinges allow the “arms” to bend more than regular hinges
          

If eye care professionals cringe when they see you clean your glasses, and your lenses don’t last long before they are scratched, then it’s probably time to update your eyeglass cleaning habits!

To make sure your lenses stay clear and crisp as long as possible, follow these lens cleaning instructions.

1. First, wash your hands and dry them thoroughly. Don’t use a soap that contains lotion. Regular hand soap or dish soap are preferred. Dry your hands with a lint-free towel.
2. Rinse your glasses under the water. Use lukewarm tap water with a gentle stream. Avoid using water that is too hot.
3. Put one drop of dish soap on each lens, or drop some on your fingers and apply it to the lens this way. It doesn’t take much, but remember not to use a soap with lotion.
4. Gently rub the front and back of the lens, as well as rubbing lightly along the frame. Be sure to wash along the frame components like nosepads and hinges. Dust and oil can accumulate around the lens, so clean these areas thoroughly.
5. Rinse the glasses with lukewarm water inside and out.
6. Carefully shake or tap the glasses to remove excess water.
7. Use a clean, lint-free towel to dry your lenses and frames. A cotton towel is preferred, but most dish towels are fine as long as they have been washed without substances that can smear your lenses, like fabric softener or dryer sheets. Make sure it is a fresh, clean towel!
8. Check to see that your eyewear is free from smears and smudges. Keep a microfiber cloth on hand to clean any minor residue you may encounter.

Even when using eyeglass cleaning products, it’s important to inspect your lenses and follow instructions. If you like to clean your glasses without a faucet, there are several cleaning sprays available in drugstores or at our practice. Before using a cleaning wipe, make sure to blow any debris off of your lenses to prevent scratching.

The best way to avoid not only scratching your glasses, but also having to clean them frequently is by getting an anti-reflective (AR) treatment done on your lenses. The best AR treatments prevent scratching, reduce glares, and even resist dust, dirt, and oil.

Talk to us if you have any questions about proper care for your glasses!

Risks of blue light exposure have become a topic of discussion in recent years. More eyecare professionals and scientists are studying the effects of blue light to assess the effects of relying on blue light for so much of our lighting.

It’s hard to say for sure how much added blue light exposure may lead to additional cases of degenerative eye health problems like macular degeneration. Plus, there is some evidence that overexposure to high-energy blue light can cause side effects such as sleep disturbances, eye strain, and headaches. With this in mind, how can you reduce your exposure, inside and out?

Inside
• Lower the brightness of your electronic screens, especially at night, but make sure you are not straining to see the words if you’re reading.
• Take frequent breaks while working at a computer. Regardless of blue light exposure, Computer Vision Syndrome is another problem you may face, and taking breaks to relax your eyes will help.
• Stop using your devices at least a couple hours before bed. Unplug and read a book instead, which will give your eyes something easy to focus on and help you wind down for good sleep.
• Adjust your distance. Viewing a bright screen up close is fatiguing. Make sure to set your computer monitor and television at a comfortable distance, and don’t hold handheld devices too close to your eyes. You can adjust text size if reading a device at arm’s length is difficult.
• Opt for non-glare lenses. Non-glare or anti-reflective treatments on your lenses will help reduce bright lights affecting your eyes.

Outside
• Wear sunglasses. Sunglasses that are an appropriate darkness and block 99-100% of UVA-UVB rays are the best protection for your eyes.
• Consider polarized lenses, too. Polarization cuts harsh glares that bounce off of water and other surfaces.
• Don’t forget a hat! In especially bright outdoor settings a hat will help block bright light from above, even if your eyes are protected from the front.

Ask us about what blue light-blocking options are available for your eyewear. We can help with your everyday lenses, reading glasses, and especially with sunglasses!

It seems like contact lenses and glasses would use the same prescription. After all, the idea is that your eyes don’t see quite right, so you use a lens to change the view, and then you see clearly, right? Well, the two prescriptions are quite different. Few patients check the numbers or notice any change during the exam process, but the prescriptions are not the same because of where the lens sits in relation to your eye.

The lens of your glasses rests about twelve millimeters from your eye. Contact lenses, on the other hand, are placed directly on the surface of your eye. Why would this make your prescription different? Well, think about holding a magnifying glass out in your hand. When you hold it far away and look through, the view you see is much different than if you try to hold the magnifying lens up close to your eye. The same principle is in play when you consider glasses in contrast to contact lenses.

If you’re still imagining the magnifying glass held out in your hand, think about how grass would look if you’re sitting on the ground and have the magnifying glass down near the grass. You’d be able to see the blades clearly, right? If you held the magnifying glass up close to your eye, the refraction would be so strong that you wouldn’t be able to see anything other than a blur. The power of the glass would need to be reduced for you to see clearly. This is the reason why your contact lens prescription is weaker than your glasses, but you get the same crisp, clear vision with each. Neat, right?

Not all contact lens prescription powers are drastically less than the glasses prescription for the same person, but usually the power used for contact lenses is reduced. In addition to the powers being different, your eye care professional will need some additional measurements to fit you for contact lenses because there are specifications needed to fit contact lenses appropriately that aren’t needed for glasses.

Some things that need to be measured to receive an accurate contact lens prescription are the size of the cornea, the curve and overall size of the lens, and the suggested brand of lenses that will work best for you. Eye care professionals usually have an idea of which contact lenses work best with different eye conditions, so they will suggest a particular toric lens for your astigmatism, or a type of disposal lens based on your needs, for example.

Some aspects of the lens prescriptions are included for both kinds of eyewear. The lens power is included in both prescriptions. Lens power is the measurement used to correct your “refractive error,” or the nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism that you have. It wouldn’t be identical because of the magnifying glass analogy, but it is included in both prescriptions. They’re also laid out per eye—right vs. left—because very few people have the same prescription in both eyes, so they are measured individually regardless of what type of eyewear you’re getting. More technical aspects of your prescription (the power and axis determined to correct astigmatism, for instance) may also be included in both the contact lens and glasses versions of your prescription.

Hopefully that makes the difference between your contact lens and glasses prescriptions clearer. Talk to your eye care professional if you have any questions about your prescription or are curious about getting contact lenses or glasses.