Pinhole glasses are becoming an increasing trend due to several factors, including cost and efficiency. Because they don’t require a prescription, however, you may never have heard about them from an eye doctor. However, these glasses are often of great benefit to people who are both nearsighted and farsighted, so they are worth looking into. If you are considering making the switch from a prescription to pinhole lenses, here is some more information about how they work and why they might be right for you.
How Do Pinholes Work?
The answer to how pinhole glasses work is based largely on an understanding of how light reaches the eye. Pinhole glasses have a series of perforations that are lined evenly across the lenses. Unlike regular glasses, which do little to regulate how much light gets into your eyes, these glasses restrict the light that reaches your eyes to small cylinders. The light can only enter the eye at certain angles with these glasses. This impacts the way that the retina of your eyes, which is light sensitive, receives the light. The pinholes can make objects appear brighter, and also allow you to view things with more clarity.
Why Are They Popular?
Pinhole glasses are able to help you see most things more clearly while you are stationary. For example, while they can help you sit and read a book, you shouldn’t wear them while you’re driving. Still, even though you can’t wear them in motion, these glasses have enough uses that they are gaining popularity. Students can use them to see a chalkboard better from the back of a classroom, and older people can use them to better view the television set in their living room. These glasses are almost always significantly less expensive than a pair of prescription lenses as well, which makes them even more attractive.
Are They Right For You?
Pinhole glasses may not be right for all people who suffer from an eye or vision disorder. However, if you have a refractive eye disorder then pinhole glasses can probably help you to at least some extent unless you have a refractive error that exceeds 6 diopters. In that case, the light manipulation of pinhole lenses won’t be able to correct the way that your retinas interpret the light. Pinhole glasses can be worn by someone of any age, and one pair will often last for a long time, so they may also be ideal if you are very budget conscious.
Pinhole glasses may be a better alternative to your prescription glasses based on budget issues, as well as the severity of your eyesight issues. If you rarely need to wear glasses, consider asking about pinhole glasses the next time you visit an eye specialist. If you experience double images when you wear these glasses, or the honeycomb effect in which you can see each individual hole, then pinhole glasses are probably not a good match. However, if you are able to write, read, and watch events more clearly with these glasses they can save you money.
Frank Foley is an optometrist. He loves to share his latest findings in the vision field on consumer blogs.
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