Archive for November, 2011
Even though a few years ago most of us didn’t know much about them, nowadays pinhole glasses are rather popular amongst people trying to improve eyesight in a natural way. Although such sight improvement tools have been around quite for a while now, it wasn’t until the widespread of the internet until they were known.
Pinhole glasses are made of an opaque material (plastic, wood, cardboard etc). The opaque lenses are perforated with small holes. The holes restrict the amount of light entering the eye. The result is that your pupils will try to see through the holes, and so the eyes will focus on what is in front of you. The outcome: sharper and better vision.
By blocking the peripheral light rays entering the eye with the help of the holes in the lens, and by only letting in the rays which pass through the central portion of the pupil, any refractive error in the lens or cornea is not noticed as much. The pupil may be wide open, but only the central portion is receiving light. The improvement in visual acuity can sometimes be striking.
Pinhole glasses work very well in sharpening the vision of people with hyperopia (far-sightedness), presbyopia (diminished focusing range with age) and astigmatism. People with cataracts can also benefit from pinholes. Moreover, the glasses have an important place in Myopia Prevention.
Certain studies have shown that in case of children with myopia, giving them normal glasses will not help treat the problem, but rather causing myopia to increase. On the other hand, some say that pinhole glasses would help children with myopia when going to school. According to those people, a child with myopia could be wearing a pair of pinholes in class only when he looks at the board. A large area of the board can be seen through just one hole.
The cost and the risk of wearing myopia glasses with “minus” lenses are avoided. Using pinhole glasses could help preventing development of myopia because the accommodative effort is reduced.
One limitation of pinhole glasses is that they block some of the light that should reach the eye. It is precisely why it is very important that the things you are looking at are well lit. Under no circumstances you should drive with pinhole glasses on.
Do not think that pinholes are the solution and the cure to your entire set of eye disorders. Do not believe the ones that exaggerate the role of pinhole glasses. They cannot be used, for instance, by people with over 6 diopters of myopia. As I already said, they are not intended to be used when walking around or driving a car. Use common sense and only wear the pinhole glasses in situations when the fact that your visual field is restricted poses no threat to you.